What I Live For
by snk.fairy
Summary: When Jellal Fernandes discovers the musical talents of three of his college classmates, he begs them to team up with him to pursue a professional music career. Even if they accept, do these four young men have what it takes to make it big? And can they handle the pressure that comes along with it? [Band AU. Mainly Gruvia with some NaLu/GaLe/Jerza & other pairings] Please R&R!
1. The Proposal

**What I Live For**

"To live is just to fall asleep. To die is awaken."

-Pierce The Veil

 ** _Please R &R._**

 ** _Fairy Tail_** **belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

 _Thoughts_ ** _\ Flashbacks._**

 **I. The Proposal**

* * *

Remember that boy your father warned you to stay away from? The one who was no good, who would use you or get you into trouble, the one who would make you cry and end up breaking your heart in the end?

We were those boys. The ones who became so blinded by our ultimate goal we forgot to hold onto the people who cared about us the most. But a person can only be patient with you for so long...

It wasn't intentional at all, I swear. It's just when you've lived a life where almost nobody gave a crap about you, you don't know how to react when someone treats you like they actually care. I don't know, it just felt wrong. Like I didn't deserve it. I think my some of bandmates, or other people in this industry feel the same way.

But now we're here. We've gotten so far from where we began. I know I'm just a bassist, and my band and I have a long way to go. But as I walk here towards the stage, with my Les Paul in hand, watching Natsu twirling a drum stick, Gajeel checking the tuning his guitar and Jellal probably making sure his skinny jeans are as tight as can be, the only thing I can think about is the look in her eyes, her heart pounding for me, and the way she'll smile when we play our first song.

I know she'll be there, even if I have to imagine it.

\- Gray Fullbuster.

...

If there was something Gray Fullbuster loved it was definitely the sound of his fingers cooperating with the strings on his bass guitar. Gray had always loved music, and had a deep passion for writing songs and sheet music to accompany his bass. It wasn't until his parents died he had given up on his childhood dream to be a rockstar. He now deemed it unattainable although, he still strummed his bass from time to time. The only person he believed knew about his passion for music was his girlfriend, but he continually told her, it was only a hobby.

The sound of the front door unlocking and locking woke him up. He opened his eyes and noticed from the open door that someone had walked in and flipped on the kitchen light. He turned and looked at the clock sitting on the nightstand.

"2:17 A.M." He mumbled, reading the green neon numbers.

He slowly sat up, removing the covers from his body as he got out of the queen sized bed, which took up most of the bedroom space. It was fairly small, as was their whole apartment, but they didn't mind. It was all the space they needed. He shuffled his feet out of the bedroom, rubbing one eye as he stepped out of the hall into the light.

"Babe, is that you?" He called out, awaiting an answer. He stepped into the kitchen, watching as his girlfriend took two aspirin with a glass of water.

The twenty year old woman glanced over at him with a small smile. "Sorry. Juvia didn't mean to wake you."

He walked towards her, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning down to kiss her. "It's cool. I was waiting up for you anyways."

She moaned lightly into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck deepening it. "Gray..." She mumbled, softly pressing her lips on his again. "You need to sleep, you have class tomorrow, don't you?"

He groaned, lifting her up in his arms carrying her bridal style. "I know." He pressed his lips on her neck, as she shut off the kitchen light switch and they made it back into their bedroom. "It's just I don't like sleeping without you here. I feel like you haven't been around for the past week."

She pouted, wrapping her arms around him. "Forgive Juvia. It's just there's going to be a meeting tomorrow and many of the lawyers and marketers have been staying late in order to prepare for it." She began to explain, and with a smile, she added, "If Juvia isn't there to get them coffee who will?" She said sarcastically as he set her down.

"I guess you're invaluable to them huh?"

She kicked off her heels, removed her jacket and began to gather her wavy blue hair hair into a messy bun. "Juvia supposes." She said as she removed her grey pencil skirt and unbuttoned her navy blue blouse with short sleeves. She replaced it with a simple camisole and soffe shorts. Gray smiled when she finally climbed into bed with him, he wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning forwards and kissing the top of her head.

"I love you." He whispered to the pale woman in his arms.

She snuggled more into him, shutting her eyes as sleep began to overtake her. "Juvia loves you too."

...

"8:41 am..." He said as he checked his watch, finishing up getting dressed. He walked into the bathroom, and eyed his beautiful girlfriend. "You got anytime?" Gray asked, wrapping his arms around her and lightly sucking at her neck while she pinned her hair blue hair back. She had on black pants, a purple high collared top, and darker purple heels.

A sleepy Juvia smiled sweetly at him through the mirror, placing her hand on his cheek before pushing him away. "Juvia can't be late. Neither can Gray."

He chuckled, spinning her around with his hands on her hips capturing her soft pink lips. She moaned softly, giving in when his tongue slithered its way into her mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck, shutting her eyes as her head tilted to an angle deepening the kiss. She finally managed to pull away. He frowned, keeping his arms around her waist.

"You're working too damn hard. I mean you barely got sleep last night."

She pulled back, looking him in the eyes with a smile on her face. "It's okay, it's only this week. Juvia just wants you to worry about school right now."

He sighed, grabbing her hand and walking back into their bedroom. He sat on the bed, looking to the ground as he held her small hand in both of his larger ones. "I was thinking, maybe if I dropped out of college I could get a better job and help you out more."

Her brows furrowed. "No! Juvia won't let you." She stepped closer to him, squatting down and placing her hand on his cheek, rubbing it with her thumb. "Gray, you worked hard to get into college, you can't quit now." She pressed a kiss on his cheek before standing and walking to grab her purse off of the ground where she dropped it the previous night. "There are no financial problems to worry about, darling. So please just stay there until you've decided what it is you want to pursue, yes?" She placed her hand on top of his bass guitar, which sat in the corner of their room, and looked back to him. "If music is what Gray loves, Juvia will support him."

"Juvia..." He said softly, remembering when she had surprised him with the expensive bass. _'She's too good for me...'_ "Playing bass... Writing songs... It's just a hobby to pass the time. And it's not like the classes I'm taking right now will further a music career." He stood up slipping on his black jacket when she handed it to him. "I just want to graduate quick, get a stable job, then we can get married."

"Juvia wants you to be happy." She giggled, slipping on her own jacket. "Whatever makes you happy."

They walked outside their small apartment, Gray locked the door then they walked down to the parking lot. The two twenty year olds entered the car they payed for together and began to drive off. When they arrived at the building Juvia worked in, she unbuckled her seatbelt and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Have a good day." She said, getting out of the car and beginning to shut the door.

He smiled. "You too." He watched as she walked inside the tall building before driving off.

...

Gray arrived at Magnolia College (MC) about 20 minutes later. He found a parking space not too far from the entrance of the large building and sighed as he sat there, waiting to go in. His mind wandered back to his girlfriend, whom he had been dating ever since his senior year of high school when he lost his parents in a horrible car accident.

 _ **"There's nothing to fucking talk about!" The young man spat, crossing his arms glaring at the therapist. "I lost my fucking parents, I'm sure you know how I'm feeling."**_

 _ **The pink haired woman nodded. Kneading her pen on her chin as she watched the young man in front of her. "While I understand your relationship with your parents was not the best, I'm certain there's a part of you which is hurting. This is a safe place Gray, I won't relay this information to anyone."**_

 _ **The young man shook his head, balling his hand into a tight fist without her noticing. "I'm fine. I just want to get the fuck out of here."**_

 _ **The doctor sighed, checking the clock on the wall. "If you feel like these sessions are not helping you Gray, you are free to leave, just please, talk to me, or anyone you can trust for that matter, when you are ready."**_

 _ **He stood up quickly, turning on his heels to leave. "Right." He grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the room and making his way straight out of the building. As he walked towards the door, he** **didn't notice someone else walking towards it which caused him to bump into her. His eyes widened when he spotted a beautiful young girl with blue hair, whom he had just knocked on the ground. "My.. My bad." He apologized, offering her a hand which she stared at for a moment. She took it slowly, and her eyes widened when he tightened the grip and pulled her up.**_

 _ **"J-Juvia... Apologizes... It was her fault."**_

 _ **He rose an eyebrow for a moment, holding the door open and allowing her to step outside. She walked by quickly with her head lowered.**_

 _ **"Hey?" He called as she attempted to step away. "Who's Juvia?" He asked, earning a confused look from her.**_

 _ **The girl lifted her arm and pointed at herself. "I-I am Juvia..."**_

 _ **They stood in silence as the wind blew by them. Her wavy hair was blown with it, and his eyes just couldn't seem to leave her glance.**_

 _ **"Oh..." His response was fast after that. "My name is Gray. It's nice to meet you."**_

 _ **She seemed to look down at the ground with a small smile, her cheeks turning a shade of pink. "Well... Thank you, Gray-Sama. But not a lot of people feel that way about Juvia. She brings misery wherever she goes. She's forgotten everyone who she cared about and she scares a lot of people. That's why... Nobody has ever wanted her around. Juvia is a mess, a walking mess."**_

 _ **"That can't be true." He stated, stepping closer to her, making her back up a bit. She looked scared. Lost. Even a little broken. "Misery is a part of life, we can't avoid it."**_

 _ **She clutched onto her purse, looking down as her bangs covered her eyes. "Juvia's lost everything. She's crazy. She's always alone. She's bad luck. She's gloomy. She's the rain..."**_

 _ **Gray didn't know why he felt so drawn to her. It almost felt like a big cliche. Was he supposed to fall in love with her now? He shook his head, looked up to the sky and sighed. "Look, the sun is out, the sky is clear. Isn't it beautiful?"**_

 _ **She looked up at the young man before looking up at the sky. "Juvia... She's never noticed... How beautiful..."**_

 _ **Gray looked back at her watching her stare up at the sky with great admiration. He noticed she had bruises on her body, on her neck, shoulders and wrists. It wasn't hard to tell since she was only in a black tank top. He rubbed the back of his head, looking away from her, "hey you wanna grab a bite to eat with me?" He asked casually. "I'm getting hungry."**_

 _ **She looked at him with confusion for a moment before smiling softly. His face remained expressionless though.**_

 _ **"Yes. Juvia would like to join you. Gray-sama."**_

 _ **They walked off together, as he looked down at her. "Gray is just fine by the way."**_

Gray made sure he had all his notebooks as he got out of the car. He shut the door and pulled out his iPhone 5S. He smiled at his lock screen which was a picture of Juvia before he plugged in his earbuds and walked to his first class. Since Gray had moved away from his hometown the summer he graduated high school, he hadn't made much friends at MC.

He moved to Magnolia to get a fresh start. To be with Juvia and help her move on from a past she couldn't even remember. He had made a few friends over the first few months. He was now in his second semester, ready to find the career path so he could get a job and marry his loved one. She decided against college, and quickly found a decent paying job as a receptionist at a large firm.

Gray on the other hand, wanted to be able to support her and the future he imagined with her. So even though she was the one bringing in more money as of now, he would soon be able to spoil her just like he wanted. That was his goal at least. He kept that on his mind, as he listened to the boring lectures and dealt with the classes he didn't even want to be taking.

The day passed quickly for him as usual, given he was only enrolled for three classes this semester. He made his way back out to his car, settling inside it and searching for his keys in his black backpack. As he was digging through it, he found his keys, but noticed his math notebook was missing. He shut his bag, groaning as he debated whether to return and collect it or not. It was full of math notes, which he needed to study for because of a big test, but also song lyrics and sheet music he had worked on in class while he was in a daze. He got out of the car, and cursed to himself as he walked back into the building towards the classroom he was in for math. When he entered, his eyes widened slightly when he spotted three figures in the room. One of them had appeared to be there the whole time while the other two appeared to have just arrived.

He looked back to see a blue haired young man with a red tattoo on his face, holding his blue notebook up in his left hand.

"Well now that we are all here, I would like to speak with all of you about something." The young man with the notebook said.

* * *

Natsu Dragneel and Gajeel Redfox had been friends for as long as they could remember. From bickering over gram crackers in kindergarten to brawling in the eleventh grade, the two had really been a strange yet inseparable pair. It mostly had to do with the fact that they both grown up in the same orphanage after their fathers mysteriously disappeared, abandoning the two boys. They were the only ones who understood each other, since most of the orphans didn't know the warmth of a parent. They had been alone since birth, but Gajeel and Natsu had been abandoned. While at the orphanage, they discovered their love of music together. Natsu was a reckless drummer breaking every set of drumsticks when he would play. Gajeel had taken a liking to the guitar, practicing everyday for as long as they were there.

It was cut short though, when Natsu was adopted by an old man named Makarov and Gajeel by a man named Jose who also had adopted another little girl a year younger than him. The boys reunited in high school, but had both changed dramatically.

Gajeel Redfox was now a long haired badass who did what he wanted. Jose had died of a heart attack, his adoptive sister had run off after losing her memory in a car accident and he once again felt left alone. He had a cold exterior though, so acted as if it did not bother him, but he really did long for the day he would reunite with his lost sister.

Natsu had moved into a large home, with another kid that Makarov and his wife, Porlyusica, owned. Since they couldn't have kids of their own they liked adopting, and had the money and space for it. There was a little girl named Wendy. Natsu got along with the younger one, since she saw him as a role model, even though they weren't blood related, it was a nice home to grow up in.

After a reunion when they met at Vermillion High School, the boys finished their senior year together, Gajeel with his guitar and Natsu with his drumsticks as they rolled off into college. They spent the first year living in a dorm, then found a cool place on top of an out of business storage area and took it. It was close to Magnolia College so they could simply walk there. They never did pay much attention to pursuing a music career. Even though it was something they were both very good at. Gajeel was planning on becoming an engineer to work on cars and other vehicles, while Natsu was planning on getting an associates degree at MC, then transferring off to a fire fighting academy.

The two boys sighed as they walked towards the large school building.

"Geez, I really hope Jura-sensei doesn't give out that test today. I didn't study for it." Natsu groaned, knowing very well he was going to get it anyway.

Gajeel rolled his red eyes, stuffing his hands in his pocket. "Why are you even taking that damn class? It ain't like you even need it."

Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head. "Well it's an easy credit so it will help me graduate faster..." Her turned to look at his friend with a smirk, "but right next to it is the music storage room, so when the professor's not looking I could sneak in there and bang on the drums."

Gajeel gave him a confused look. "Oh yeah? And you never get caught?"

"I always do." Natsu said proudly. "But that's besides the point anyway. I'll see ya."

They made it to campus grounds, taking opposite routes to get to their first class. Gajeel had his earbuds in, nodding his head to the sound of the music when suddenly, he felt someone bump into him. He rose an eyebrow, removing one earbud and looking at the ground where a petite girl had been knocked down. She looked up at him with a glare.

"Watch where you're going, Redfox." She said angrily as she stood up.

He grinned, finding it hilarious to be glared by her. "Look shrimp, if ya weren't so tiny I wouldn't have trouble watching where I'm going."

Her cheeks huffed up in annoyance, "it's not me, you're so freakishly tall, Gajeel!"

"Yeah yeah." He grumbled, patting her head as he walked passed her. "Yell at me later alright, I got to get going."

She turned to stare at his back while he walked away for a moment. She pressed her lips together and rolled her eyes before running up to his side.

"Hey, you like playing the guitar right?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"What of it, shorty?" Gajeel replied quickly.

She messed with her fingers, looking off to the side. "Well... You see my grandpa used to play the guitar too for some band, but he moved into a retirement home and he wants to get rid of some... He offered them to me... But I'm no good at that... I'm more into the audio visual things like you already know..."

He rubbed the back of his head looking down at her with interest. "That's right, you're the president of that nerd herd right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Without the A.V club nothing would get done around here, we run everything." She smiled proudly, shutting her eyes. "But that's only natural since we are the brightest students on campus."

"Not to mention the most stuck up." He added quickly.

She then crossed her arms and rose an eyebrow. "Well? I have like 4 electric guitars in my dorm room and my roommate is being really annoying about me getting rid of them. You want them?"

He stopped and looked at her with his red eyes. "I'll have to take a look at them first, then we can discuss prices."

Levy shrugged looking down at the ground with a blush on her cheeks, "well I have no use for them and gramps just handed them over. If you want them I won't charge you. I mean... I know you're good... I used to listen to you play in high school." She mumbled the last part, not sparing him a glance as she walked away. She lifted her hand in the air waving at him, her voice strong again. "Just stop by my dorm room later tonight or something if you're interested."

He rubbed the back of his head, watching as she walked away. She was in a pair of black leggings and an oversized orange sweatshirt. _'She's pretty damn cute for a nerd.'_ He thought to himself as he turned and walked to class.

Gajeel's day passed by quickly, and he was currently preparing to leave. He pulled out his phone from his pocket, deciding that he had nothing to lose taking a look at the guitars Levy had offered him. As he scrolled through his contacts, searching for her number his eyes suddenly widened when he received a text message from an unknown number. He rose an eyebrow, looking around his area before he tapped on the 'open' icon. What he came to see, was a classroom number. He grit his teeth together, "who the hell is this from?" He asked himself. Part of him said to ignore it. To just walk away, but curiosity got the better of him. He placed his phone back in his pocket, and turned around to walk towards the designated classroom. He was a pretty strong guy, so he wasn't scared or anything.

As he was walking, his attention was caught by his pink haired friend.

"Yo Gajeel!" He called out, "I got this weird message on my phone."

Gajeel's eyes widened, "you too?"

Natsu rose an eyebrow. "Well now I'm curious. How come the number was blocked?"

"No idea." Gajeel replied, as they finally made it to the door. "Alright, here we are, classroom 1136."

"Ain't this a math class?" Natsu commented as Gajeel opened the door.

They stepped inside, and spotted a blue haired young man with a red tattoo over his eye. He gave them a friendly smile, receiving a glare and confused expression in return.

"Gajeel Redfox, Natsu Dragneel." He opened.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes. "Wait a sec. Ain't you... You're Levy's cousin... Jellal... right?"

The young man smirked. "That's right, I had almost forgotten you're fairly close to my cousin."

Gajeel crossed his arms. "She's a pain, but I'd say we're friends."

Natsu's confused look suddenly turned into a glare. "So what's with the shady messages, huh?! That ain't cool man!"

As he was going to respond the door made an opening sound, all three boys looked back to spot a dark haired young man step inside. He seemed to be shocked upon their appearance, but then looked even more surprised when Jellal held up his notebook.

"Well now that we are all here, I would like to speak with all of you about something." The young man with the notebook said. "My name is Jellal Fernandes, and I have decided that you three are the ones I want."

The three young men exchanged glances before looking back to Jellal.

"What are ya talking about?" Gajeel asked, growing irritated.

Jellal smirked and shut his eyes. "Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, and Natsu Dragneel, it's music that keeps this world running, and I want to create it with the three of you."

* * *

 **Please** **leave a review if you like it so I know to continue. This is my first fanfic. Some characters will be OOC. Thank you for reading!**


	2. Dreams & Reality

**What I Live For**

"Can't promise that things won't be broken, but I swear I will never leave."

-Sleeping With Sirens

 **Please R &R.**

 _Thoughts_ / **_Flashbacks_**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 _Previously:_

 _"Well now that we are all here, I would like to speak with all of you about something." The young man with the notebook said. "My name is Jellal Fernandes, and I have decided that you three are the ones I want."_

 _The three young men exchanged glances before looking back to Jellal._

 _What are ya talking about?" Gajeel asked, growing irritated._

 _"Gray Fullbuster, Gajeel Redfox, and Natsu Dragneel, it's music that keeps this world running, and I want to create_ _it with the three of you."_

 **II. Dreams & Reality**

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Gray opened, stepping towards the other man. "Look, I'm all for music running the world, but I just came to get my notebook."

The blue haired man jumped off of the desk he was sitting on, extending his arm and handing it to Gray. "Fate or coincidence? You happened to leave your notebook here and I didn't send you an anonymous text since I knew you'd return for it."

Gajeel crossed his arms, still glaring at Jellal, "alright, so how'd you get my number?"

Jellal grinned, "when your cousin is the president of the AV Club, it isn't hard to gain access to certain files."

"Ain't that like an invasion of privacy?" The pierced man asked.

"Not really." Jellal replied. "Now a days you can find anything on the Internet."

A grumble escaped Gajeel's throat before everyone turned to Natsu when he spoke up.

"Jellal... You went to high school with us didn't you?" He asked, knowing the answer. He jumped up and sat on a desk, scratching his head as he stared at the blue haired man.

Jellal nodded, with a large smile sitting on his face. "That's correct, I was a year above you and Gajeel so it's natural you shouldn't remember me." He placed his hands together. "Well I guess I'll just come right out and say it. I want to start a band and my ultimate goal is to go pro, you know, play at sold out arenas. Have my poster plastered on every girl's wall. Have fandoms and fanfics written about me, it's a dream I've always had."

Gajeel's pierced brows furrowed as Jellal spoke. He grit his teeth and asked, "Why you telling us that? It ain't like I care."

He smirked, lifting his finger in the air. "Well, you play the guitar don't you? Levy seems to be really fond of your talent. She's always going on about what a great guitarist you are."

Gajeel's mind wandered back to the bookworm. "So the shrimp likes flaunting me huh? I guess it's understandable, given I'm a badass guitar player, but I ain't looking for a music career. Find another guy." Gajeel responded, leaning back on the desk.

Jellal's brows furrowed. "No way. It has to be you guys." The man turned to look at Natsu, who had a hand in his spiky pink hair. "You have your own set of drums don't you?"

The young man nodded slowly, turning his attention to the ceiling above him. "well yeah, but I'm kinda with Gajeel on this. The music biz is pretty risky, and besides, it ain't like I'm good enough to go pro."

Jellal shook his head. "Are you kidding me? Back in high school all you did was sit in the band room pounding at those drums, I've heard you, and I don't want any other drummer for our band. It has to be you."

Natsu looked at Jellal for a moment before looking away. The blue haired man turned to Gray.

"What about you, Gray?" He asked, wondering what the young man was thinking.

The twenty year old shrugged his shoulders. "What about me? I'm not into that kind of stuff."

Jellal stepped closer to him. "You'll have to forgive me but I took a peek inside your notebook and noticed your music composition sheets and what I hope are song lyrics. It turns out you're not just a bassist."

Gray rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Listen, I don't play bass much anymore. I'm not really interested in joining a band either. I got a pretty stable life right now, I'm not planning on messing it up."

"You guys have got to be kidding me?" Jellal exclaimed, his hands in the air. "You've got all this talent and you're not planning on using it?!"

"What does talent have to do with it?" Natsu interjected, jumping up and shrugging. "As far as I'm concerned, if you want it bad enough you can have it. But it seems like none of us are really up for this."

"Cmon guys. At least think about it." Jellal suggested. He knew that this would take some convincing.

Gray shut his eyes and turned around to leave. "There's nothing to think about. I don't know you to begin with. Sorry Fernandes, but I'm gonna have to refuse."

Jellal turned his full attention to Gray, "I was a kid who grew up with nothing." That made Gray freeze, but not turn back. Those words made him think back to his parents who never paid him much attention, or his girlfriend who couldn't even remember hers. "I don't want to be a guy who lives a boring life after college, and frankly, I don't see any of you guys sitting in an office or wearing some suit and tie. This has been my dream for as long as I could remember." He turned to Natsu who had hopped back onto the desk, and Gajeel who was leaning against the wall. "I've heard you each individually play, and I think our sounds will compliment each other. If we just try it out once I'm sure we'll all come realize that we could be great."

Gray pressed his lips together before shaking his head. "You don't know what your talking about. You've never heard me play."

Jellal rose an eyebrow, a serious expression on his face. "Like I said before. Once it's on the Internet, it's there forever." Jellal sighed. "I know this sounds a little crazy-"

"A little?" Gajeel spoke up, pushing himself off of the wall. He looked straight at Jellal. "This is fucking insane. You seem so damn sure that this will work out."

"But insanity is what fuels a great mind!" Jellal argued. "We're in our twenties, young, handsome and talented! We deserve to be a little crazy! Just think about, we can start a revolution! We can't lose anything by trying."

"Actually I'm only nineteen." Natsu commented.

Gray turned towards the door once again. "Good luck with your revolution or whatever. I came here to get my notebook, not to join a band."

Gajeel began to walk towards the door as well. "Yeah, and I've gotta meet up with Levy."

Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "Guess that counts me out too."

"You're not even going to try?! There's nothing inside you telling you to go for it?!" Jellal yelled. "We're not all that different, we could mean something to people!"

Gray sighed, "I've gotta pick up my girlfriend and then head off to work alright. I don't have time for this."

"It's funny." Jellal began. "The guy who wants nothing to do with a music career working at a music store."

Gray opened the classroom door. "It's just a job." He began to walk out. "Thanks for the notebook."

"Yeah I'm out of here too." Gajeel stated, taking his leave.

Natsu followed behind them, his hands interlaced behind his head while walking. Jellal ran out, and grabbed the pink haired boy by the sleeve.

"Look! Just think about, and I mean really think about it!" He pleaded.

"He's persistent." Gajeel growled.

Gray and Gajeel looked back at Jellal.

"Fine, I'll think about it, but my answer is still most likely going to be no." Gray commented, picking up his speed to walk away faster.

...

"Say, Juvia?" The young woman turned at the mention of her name. She looked up to see her coworker, and good friend, Evergreen. "Did you hear? The big meeting today went horribly."

The blue haired woman nodded. "Yes. Juvia was aware." She sighed as she separated the papers in front of her. "At least we don't have to stay as long as they do."

Evergreen yawned while nodding. Finishing up sending some e-mails for their boss. "What would they do without us though?" Juvia chuckled softly, finally finishing sorting out the papers neatly before placing them in a drawer and locking it. "Since this stressful week is finally over, do you want to go and grab some drinks after?"

Juvia smiled apologetically at the slightly older woman. "Juvia is sorry, Evergreen-san. But Juvia has plans already."

Evergreen rose an eyebrow for a moment before a sly smile crept up on her lips. "Oh I see, with that pretty boyfriend of yours, huh. How's that going?" She placed her hand on her hip, as Juvia blushed lightly.

"Yes." She began, cleaning her work area. "Gray-sama is sweet, reliable, and thoughtful. Juvia loves him... So much."

Evergreen smiled, adjusting her glasses as she picked up her bag. "Ah, I'm jealous."

Juvia gave her a confused look, standing up from her seat at the front desk and grabbing her purse as well. "Juvia believed that Evergreen-san was seeing someone."

The brown haired woman sighed, pulling her hair out of the tight bun it was in. "Well I wouldn't exactly say I'm seeing him... It's a bit complicated." She turned her attention to the ground as both women walked towards the door.

"Juvia apologizes... She wishes there was something she could do."

Evergreen shrugged her shoulders, placing her brown winter coat over her white button up blouse and short black skirt. "Don't feel bad. But I would like some girl time outside of work. Call me sometime so we can hang out."

Once they stepped outside, Juvia shivered from the cold breeze passing by them. She nodded at the woman, while they began to part ways. Evergreen quickly caught a cab while Juvia made her way towards where Gray was waiting for her. He stepped out of the car upon spotting her.

A smile fell upon her lips when his arms wrapped around her. "Hey." He said simply, giving her a quick kiss. "So? Did that meeting your bosses have go well?"

Juvia pressed a finger to her chin while she shook her head. "No. It went terribly. Elfman-sama was pretty upset." She explained, referring to one of her bosses.

Gray draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close for a warm embrace before they stepped into their vehicle.

"So? Did anything interesting happen to Gray today?" She asked.

Gray remained silent a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. "Nah, I don't wanna talk about school. You hungry?"

She nodded, leaning back in her seat as she stared out the window. "Starving."

...

While seated in his class, Natsu couldn't help but think back to Jellal and his words. Yes, it's almost every child's dream to grow up and be famous. Whether it's music, acting, or writing. Every child has a goal her or she wants to accomplish. But the thing was, Natsu was not a child anymore.

His shoulders hunched slightly as he placed his elbows on his desk, interlacing his fingers in front of him. He kept his eyes on the board, focusing on the teacher but his mind had blocked out the sound of the lecture.

 _"I was a kid who grew up with nothing."_

Jellal's words played in his head over and over again like a broken record. He didn't think he'd actually think about it. But, something inside him felt strange. Yes. It was true. Natsu loved playing drums. When he was seated on the stool, with two wooden sticks in his hands he felt at ease. But the question was whether he loved it enough to give up everything and risk it all for a music career? Natsu's dark eyes shifted down at his desk, where his laptop sat.

 _"I don't want to be a guy who lives a boring life after college, and frankly, I don't see any of you guys sitting in an office or wearing some suit and tie. This has been my dream for as long as I could remember."_

Was it possible that this Jellal guy was completely serious? Natsu couldn't decide. He seemed completely crazy, but also completely motivated. The pink haired young man pressed his lips together, seriously wondering if there was any chance that he, and those other guys could actually pull it off. He thought about Jellal. He had to have a motive, other than his love for music. Maybe he wanted to prove himself? Maybe he wanted to find someone? All these thoughts flooded through his mind as he sat there in his classroom.

 _'It might be fun.'_ He thought to himself. _'I mean... We are young... But... I wonder if we'll be able to work together... I mean besides Gajeel, I hardly know those guys.'_ He crossed his arms and leaned back. _'What the heck. Jellal's right. We'll lose nothing by giving it a shot.'_ He looked up to the ceiling. ' _Yeah. Just one shot. It can't hurt. And I'm curious as to this Gray. Is he really that good a bassist, and what can Jellal do?'_

...

"Shorty?! You in there?!" Gajeel yelled, knocking loudly on Levy McGarden's dorm door. "Hey open up shrimp! I wanna get this over with!"

Levy glared at the door, running up to it and yanking it open. "Will you relax?!" She started. "I was changing!"

"Right." He said slowly, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, where are those guitars at?"

She stepped aside, letting him in before shutting the door. "Alright hang on." He stood near the door frame, arms crossed and leaning against the wall. His eyes remained focused on her. Her short blue hair was gathered up in a ponytail, and she wore a beige camisole with a black skirt. She also had her glasses on which was something he rarely saw. "Okay, here they are." She said, breaking him from his trance."

He looked down to spot three electric and one acoustic guitar. There was a Johnoson LG-520, the acoustic one, along with two Les Pauls, one Epiphone and the other Gibson, and lastly a Rogue rocketeer.

"Whoa..." Was all he could say, as his hands lingered over the Gibson. "These are... Worth a lot."

Levy shrugged, "my grandfather said he bought them recently, but he has no use for them."

Gajeel's eyes widened. "He just gave away four perfectly in tact guitars? The old man has got some nerve."

"I don't know if I'd say nerve." Levy added. "But I guess you want them."

"Fuck yeah I do... Wait a second..." He stepped back, his eyes narrowed at her while she rose an eyebrow. "Your cousin is putting you up to this ain't he?"

Levy gave him a confused look. "My cousin? You mean Jellal?"

Gajeel pointed at her, "yeah! Is he making you give me these so I'll agree to his crazy plan. If that's the case then I don't want-"

"What plan?" Levy asked. "When did you even talk to Jellal?"

Gajeel returned her confused look. "So he didn't put you up to this?"

Levy stepped closer to Gajeel. "I haven't talked to Jellal recently, but you have?" She sat on her bed, staring up at him. "What did you talk about?"

He shook his head, moving passed her. "Nah it had nothing to do with you, alright."

Levy looked at the ground. "Alright then."

"So you're sure about this shorty?"

The blue haired girl nodded, "Yes. If anyone should have them it's you... You've got a special talent Gajeel... Nobody plays guitar like you..." She mumbled, grasping the end of her skirt as she looked down.

Gajeel shrugged. "Well if ya say so. These got cases or what?"

Levy stood up, grabbing the cases and helping him place the guitars inside them. She then grabbed two of them as she started to walk towards the door. "I'll help you take them to your dorm."

Gajeel shook his head. "Nah, I don't live in a dorm shorty. It's not too far either but I don't need help."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm not letting you walk around campus with four guitars. I'm coming with you."

He sighed, rubbing his head. "It's gonna be dark by the time you get back, meaning I'll have to walk you back here."

She smiled to herself before looking back at him with a smirk. "We'd better get going then."

Gajeel rolled his red eyes, following after her. If there was something he had learned about his high school valedictorian, it was that Levy McGarden would never change her mind no matter how much you talked to her.

...

Jellal walked down the campus grounds with his hands in his jacket pockets as the night began to take its rightful place in the sky. It was only about eight PM, but it was pretty dark for that hour. The only things lighting his way we're the lamppost and the brightness that shone down from the moon.

He was sure his words were bound to get through to the guys. Sure, it was crazy. But being a musician was his dream. And to play in a band with those three would just make it perfect. He wasn't sure how, but he could feel it. It was just one of those feeling which sat in your gut until you took action. He found an empty bench in the middle of the campus grounds. He sat down on it, staring up at the statue of Mavis Vermillion, founder of Magnolia College, in the middle of it.

"There just has to be a way." He said to himself. "Those guys and I were made to play together. I just know it." He interlaced his fingers and rested his head above his hands. "If only I could show them.., somehow..."

"You know, if you keep talking out loud to yourself like that, I'm just gonna think your straight up insane and change my answer to no." A voice said, walking up behind him.

Jellal looked back, startled but happy to see Natsu Dragneel waking towards him and taking a seat on the bench beside him.

"So you're in?" Jellal asked. His voice a bit hopeful.

Natsu shut his eyes, "it depends. First of all, I think it'll be fun. And like you said, we got nothing to lose."

Jellal smiled. "That's reassuring. At least you've thought about it." He sat up straight, "now how do you think we could convince the other guys to join in?"

Natsu scratched his chin. "Gajeel should be easy, it's Gray who will be tougher to convince, given he doesn't know us that well."

"Yes but we all seem to have a lot in common." Jellal commented. He sighed, looking up at the sky. "I just need to think of something."

Natsu crossed his arms, before taking a glance at the blue haired man. "Hey, I got a question."

"What is it?"

"Well." Natsu began. "I play drums, Gajeel plays guitar, apparently Gray can play bass. Where do you fit in here?"

Jellal suddenly sat up straight, snapping his fingers as an idea popped into the forefront of his mind.

"That's it!" He exclaimed. He turned to Natsu. "Hey I've got an idea on how to convince those guys."

Natsu rose an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What's the plan."

Jellal turned to the building as he stood up off the bench. "Well... Tell me. How good are you at sneaking in closed buildings?"

The pink haired teenager rose an eyebrow when Jellal began to walk towards the music building which had been closed for the rest of the day.

"This guy is insane." Natsu mumbled, following after him.

* * *

 **Seemed like a pretty good place to stop. Sorry if there are spelling errors, I always go back and check but maybe I missed one or two. Not so sure about how I did but thanks for reading. Leave a review if you please :3**


	3. The Future

**What I Live For**

"The future started yesterday, and we're already late."

-John Legend.

 **Please R &R**

 _Thoughts_ / **Song Lyrics**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

Previously:

 _"That's it!" He exclaimed. He turned to Natsu. "Hey I've got an idea on how to convince those guys."_

 _Natsu rose an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What's the plan."_

 _Jellal turned to the building as he stood up off the bench. "Well... Tell me. How good are you at sneaking in closed buildings?"_

 _The pink haired teenager rose an eyebrow when Jellal began to walk towards the music building which had been closed for the rest of the day._

 _"This guy is insane." Natsu mumbled, following after him._

 **III. The Future**

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Natsu asked, following after Jellal who had made his way to the entrance of the music building. It was very small. With only one classroom. "We could get expelled for this can't we? Or even arrested! It's breaking and entering! Are you insane?!"

Jellal glared back at the younger male before turning back to the door. "Not necessarily. I mean we are students at this school."

"I'm here on a scholarship believe it or not." Natsu hissed. "I don't want to lose it."

The blue haired man rolled his eyes. "You won't alright. It's not like we're stealing anything I just need to borrow some stuff."

The pink haired boy remained silent as Jellal examined the keypad which kept the building locked. He scratched his chin for a moment, before snapping his fingers and pushing in a four digit pin. Natsu watched in fascination as the door automatically opened.

"How'd you... know what the passcode was?"

Jellal simply shrugged as he walked in. "What? You think Levy is supernaturally intelligent cause she studied? No way. It runs in the family."

Natsu groaned before running in and shutting the door behind him. When they walked inside, Jellal flipped on the light switch and made his way towards the back closet. Natsu on the other hand had his eyes wide as he looked around. It seemed more like a storage area than a classroom. There were packed boxes everywhere and instruments laying around. His dark eyes landed on a drum set in the back of the room. It looked like it hasn't been touched in years. Natsu rubbed the back of his head, looking to Jellal who was rummaging through the cardboard boxes.

"I didn't know this school had a music program. I thought there was only one room with this kind of equipment." He sat on the drum stool, his hand lingering over the snare drum. "You know, the one near Jura-sensei's room."

Jellal nodded. "Yes I'm familiar. I think that you should also be aware that this school does not have a music program. This building was shut down about two years ago when students stopped signing up for music classes. They cut the funding for it and put more money on the sports teams and academic teams."

Natsu's eyes widened. "What? You're kidding?!"

Jellal shook his head. Grabbing a black canvas duffle bag before he began to search around the room. "Students who attend here don't pay much attention to music. Sure, they like it. Listening to it, singing in the shower, but none of them like learning to play, or sing."

The pink haired boy stood up, taking a step closer to his new friend. "Well, I ain't gonna argue with you there. Truth be told if you hadn't talked to us earlier I never would have considered attempting to go pro with a drumming career."

"Music is one of the most important things in this world." Jellal began. "It's powerful."

"You're really passionate about it huh?" Natsu asked, roaming around the room with his hands in his pockets.

"It's what I live for." Jellal nodded, grabbing two fairly small amplifiers and managing to stuff them in the bag. He turned and scrutinized the room before looking to Natsu, "hey do you mind grabbing that bass for me?" He said referring to one resting a top the old grand piano.

Natsu jumped up, grabbing the bass guitar and turning to Jellal. "What's this for?"

"Well, just in case Gray shows up unprepared."

Jellal began to walk out of the room, with Natsu following behind. "You gotta start answering some questions here. What the heck are you planning?"

They began to make their way out of the building, not nervous about being caught anymore. As they walked onto the campus grounds, Jellal ran a hand through his hair, before looking up at the sky.

"We're putting on our first concert tonight. Although, we will only have one fan in the audience." Jellal stated, walking in the direction of the boys dormitories. "Just one more stop, then we're off to find a place where it won't bother anyone to hear loud music playing."

Only slightly sure of what Jellal was talking about, Natsu slung the bass around his shoulder by the strap. "Gajeel and I live on top of an old abandoned storage place. It's pretty old, but empty. Is that what you had in mind?"

Jellal's eyes seemed to have lit up before he nodded. "Perfect. We'll have to take my car though, there's just too much to carry."

Natsu groaned. He wasn't a big fan of moving vehicles.

After stopping by Jellal's room to pick up a keyboard and a few other things, they arrived to Natsu's apartment. He had taken apart his drum set and brought it down from his apartment and placed it in the storage area, underneath his place. The storage place was the definition of run down, with broken windows, graffiti everywhere, and cobwebs on every corner. Jellal didn't mind though. He began to plug in wires to the amp and set things up as if he was on a stage. He pulled out his keyboard and placed it on its stand before setting up the microphone stand.

Natsu wandered around the area, his eyes adjusting to the dark as he searched for a light switch. He knew it was a long shot for the electricity in the place to be functional, but he had to try. He moved to one of the four corners, where his dark eyes landed on an electricity box.

"Jellal I found it!" He called out to his new friend. "Now..." He opened it and began to look at the different switches before sighing. "Please work..."

The lights which were connected to the ceiling flickered for a moment before suddenly shining brightly as if they were part of a spotlight. Natsu chuckled lightly while Jellal shifted his eyes up to the bulbs.

"Things just seem to be falling into place." He commented into the microphone which was now working.

Natsu jumped up, clapping the dust off of his hands and moving towards his drum set. "The idea of being some international music icon, it seems unattainable. But, I've gotta admit, this night has been pretty fun."

Jellal looked back at Natsu who was staring down at his drumsticks. "Well, it can be." He smiled and took out his cellphone. "The music biz is risky, but I know we can do it. We just have to try."

Natsu nodded, with a grin, he added. "First things first we gotta convince those guys to join."

Jellal placed his phone up against his ear. "Already on it."

...

If there was something Gray always thought about it was the future. How much would change in his life from where he is now, to five years down the road? Or ten? Or twenty? Would he regret not joining a band, or would he regret saying yes? So many thoughts had been clouding his mind after his talk with Jellal. He was so sure he didn't want anything to do with them. He was so sure he didn't want a professional music career. Even though he knew he did have the talent, and his girlfriend's support, there was something inside him that did not want to risk it. He knew that being famous came with a price. He wasn't sure if he had enough guts to pay that price, and if he did, he didn't want to regret it. He knew fate was a fickle thing. Destiny was something beyond his control. But when he thought about the future he pictured himself living in a nice house, with a large backyard. A few kids, maybe a dog, a treehouse and a small play set outside. Most importantly, he pictured Juvia being there. Being his wife. The mother of his kids.

He sighed, leaning over the counter top as his eyes landed on a little girl and her father. The shop was pretty much empty besides the duo standing in the pop CD aisle. It was obvious the young girl was going to purchase her first CD. It made him recall the days when he first began to play the piano, which turned into the bass in middle school.

Almost every child dreams of being a rockstar, or a movie star. To be like that person you saw on TV, with the cool hair and funny outfit. In the past it was just a dream. An unattainable goal which you always knew deep down just couldn't be possible. But now, Gray was starting to think differently. Could it be possible that he Jellal, Natsu, and Gajeel could become successful music icons? Could they really change the world? Could they really mean something to people?

 _"If music is what Gray loves, Juvia will support him."_

He thought back to Juvia's words. She was right. Gray loves music. There was no denying it. But he also loves her and didn't want to lose her no matter what. While lost in thought he almost did not notice when the little girl from before placed the CD on the counter. He offered her a friendly smile as he scanned it, before placing it in a small paper bag and handing it back to her. Her father had paid of course, and he remained silent as she happily skipped out of the store. It almost made him wonder if there was ever the slightest chance that one day a person would be just as happy to buy his CD, or if teenagers all over the world would download his whole album on iTunes or a Google play store. Maybe his own future daughter would one day be listening to his album, telling him how proud she is to have a famous father. Or his son would pick up a guitar saying he wanted to be just like him.

"Yo! Gray, you alright man?" He heard a voice call which broke him free from his train of thought. Gray glanced over to see his coworker, and fellow student at Magnolia College, Loke. "You seem distracted is something the matter?"

The dark haired man shook his head, glancing over at the clock. "It's almost closing time. It was a pretty slow day."

Loke nodded in agreement. "Yeah, hey if you want you can go ahead and leave. I'll lock up here it's cool."

Gray sighed. "You sure?"

"It's no problem, man." He assured.

Gray grinned, removing his name tag and walking towards the back room where his jacket and things were. He exited the store quickly, starting up his car and getting ready to drive off when he suddenly heard his phone ring. He grabbed it quickly, believing it to be Juvia but rose an eyebrow when it was an unknown number. He stared at it for a moment, before sliding his finger across the screen to answer it.

"Hello?" He asked, confused.

"Gray, it's Jellal!" The blue haired man replied quickly from the other end of the cellphone.

Gray rose an eyebrow, "Jellal? How'd you get my number?"

"Listen Gray, this is urgent. I need you to come to this address please." Jellal answered, ignoring Gray's previous question. "I know this seems strange but I need you to come here as soon as possible."

Gray had a confused look sitting on his face. "Listen, if this is about that band thing then-"

The call was suddenly cut, and Gray then received a new text message on his phone. It was an address, the one Jellal had been going on about. Gray gripped the steering wheel, looking out onto the empty but lit up road before him. He rolled his eyes, and tapped on the address. The map application opened, and he listened to the gps' instructions. A part of him wanted to turn around and head home, but this Jellal had peeked his interest.

 _'This doesn't mean I'm agreeing to anything.'_ Gray reassured himself. _'I'm just gonna see what this guy is up to.'_

...

"I can't believe you made me stop at that place with ya." Gajeel grumbled to the shorter girl.

Levy narrowed her eyes at him. "You said you were hungry and I _suggested_ pizza! I never forced you into anything!" She shouted, putting emphasis on the word 'suggested'.

Gajeel grit his teeth, looking away from her. "You were practically beggin' me to go with ya, shrimp."

Her eyes fell to slits while glaring at him. "It was just dinner! It's not like you had anything better to do, Gajeel! I gave up my night to help you carry these back to your place you could be just a little grateful."

The tall man grunted, "I didn't ask for your help, shorty."

She looked to the ground with her cheeks turning slightly red. "You never do..."

They reached the stairs which led them up to his apartment. Levy had remained silent the rest of the walk. As soon as he opened the door, he set the guitars down before looking back to her.

"You want something to drink?" He offered.

She shook her head. Turning to leave. "No, I'm going home."

Gajeel sighed, "sheesh. Don't get mad at me. I never asked you to come along." He fell back on his couch, ignoring the mess scattered around his apartment.

His apartment was fairly big. With two rooms, one bathroom in the hall and one in a bedroom. They had a large kitchen which they hardly ever used, and wooden floors covered by pizza boxes and soda cans everywhere.

"I'm not mad." She commented quickly. "It's just... It's just..." She turned to look at him. Gajeel met her glance, his heart beating a bit faster from the look in her eyes. "I like... Being with you. I can talk to you about things other than computer stuff, or math stuff, or science... I mean we're friends aren't we?"

He stayed silent for a moment. It had always been like this between them two. Levy for some reason always showed concern for him, ever since she met him. She always offered to help him and always returned to talk to him even when he would act rude towards her. He didn't get why. No one, besides Natsu, had ever stuck around him and always returned. He always loses the people he grows close to. rolled his eyes.

"Yeah we're friends." He said quickly. "Look... I was a-. "

"Jerk?" She interjected.

"Thanks shrimp." He flashed her a grin which made her a bit flustered. Luckily for her, Gajeel was a pretty dense guy when it came to stuff like that.

She grinned back and ran to take a seat beside him. They hung out for a while, talking and laughing. She was commenting on the mess in his place when all of a sudden, they heard the sound of drums being played. Gajeel stood up, raising an eyebrow.

"That's salamanders playing." He quickly recognized.

Levy stood up as well. "It's coming from the building downstairs..."

"What the fuck is he doing?" Gajeel asked himself rushing out the door. Levy smirked, pulling out her Galaxy phone and sending a quick text to Jellal before grabbing one of the guitars she had given Gajeel. She ran out after him, meeting him at the bottom of the staircase.

They both remained frozen when a silver car pulled up to the outside of the storage house. They watched as Gray got out from the drivers seat, looking around with confusion.

"Fullbuster? What are you doing here?" Gajeel asked, walking towards him with Levy following closely behind.

Gray turned to meet his glance with a serious face. "So this was about that band thing." He opened. "Jellal called me and told me to get here. I wasn't going to but I figured I might as well tell him I'm not joining his band. Did he do the same to you?"

Gajeel shook his head, crossing his arms. "Nah, I live upstairs and I heard salamander playing his drums. Came to see what was up."

Gray turned to the storage area and took some steps to reach the front doors. "I'm gonna regret this aren't I?" He mumbled.

He pulled the double doors open and stepped inside followed by Gajeel and Levy. The trio stopped, upon seeing Jellal standing in front of a keyboard and microphone stand and Natsu sitting at his drum set. Jellal smiled at the two young men, giving them a nod before his fingers met with the keyboard and his voice with the microphone.

 **You've been hurt so much by incurable pain and sadness**

 **We can't erase the past, so let's share the burden**

 **Don't throw life away**

 **Whoa-**

 **Whoa-**

 **I hold your hand**

 **Will I lose it someday?**

 **I want to protect your fading smile**

 **Even the echoing voice that calls me gets hoarse**

 **And is sometimes blown away by the wind**

 **I'll find you**

Natsu had joined in, and to say Gray was merely impressed was an understatement. Jellal had a strong voice, and Natsu had amazing skills with the drums.

Gajeel crossed his arms. Not sure of what to do. That was until he looked down and spotted Levy handing him the Rogue Rocketeer. He smirked, placing a hand on her head.

"I knew you had something to do with this." He grabbed the guitar, slinging it on and quickly adapting to the sound of the song.

Gray on the other hand stood by the door. He watched as the three played in sync, as though they had done this before. Jellal continued to sing, each note from his keyboard was perfectly executed, as were Natsu and Gajeel. The guitarist and the drummer both appeared to be playing with all their might. It looked like they were enjoying it as well.

Jellal turned to look at Gray, nodding over at a red bass guitar which sat beside the drum set. Gray studied it for a while. What would his next move be? Would he walk over and pick up the guitar, or should he turn around and go home? He turned to look at Levy, who smiled at him and nodded. He looked back to Natsu, Gajeel, and Jellal who all continued to play while their eyes were focused on him.

It was time to decide. What would he do?

His feet slowly began to move. Would he regret his decision? There was no way of telling yet. But right now, he simply wanted to pick up that bass and contribute to the song.

 **You've been hurt by incurable pain and sadness**  
 **Don't say you can't smile anymore or that you hate humanity**  
 **There's a meaning to everything that happens in the unforseeable future**  
 **Now just stay as you are; I'm sure the day will come when you realize**  
 **Just like a rusted person**

 **Just making love is empty**  
 **You said you can live alone**  
 **You're aching with the words of overflowing tenderness**  
 **That won't reach you now**

 **Wow the hand I hold**  
 **Wow is longing for casual tenderness**  
 **Do you remember**  
 **People become gentler by knowing pain**  
 **Drive your life**

The group played in total sync. In union, and the singing voices were presented with harmony. Levy was blown away. It was hard to believe that they had never played together before. It seemed as though they had been practicing for years. She placed her hands over her chest, her eyes shifting from the bassist, to the keyboardist, to the drummer, to the the guitar player.

"They're like a natural fit." She said to herself. Watching as they came to an end with the song. She laughed, running up towards them. "You guys! That was awesome!"

Jellal ran a hand through his hair. "Well, I had a feeling everyone would know that song so..."

Gray removed the bass, setting down where he found it. "I gotta admit, you guys sure are good."

"Yeah you are too." Natsu commented.

Gajeel grinned. "We ain't half bad I guess. With some practice we'd totally get signed to a music label."

Jellal looked back to the three men. "So? Does this mean you guys are in?"

Natsu nodded. "I'm in."

Gajeel crossed his arms, glancing at Levy who smiled and nodded. "Alright I'll give it shot."

They all turned to Gray, who still looked a bit iffy.

"Cmon Gray, say you'll try." Jellal commented.

The dark haired young man sighed, "one rehearsal." He began. "If it goes well, I'm in, if not, I'm out."

Jellal grinned. "Alright! So on this day, November 11. We began our journey into the music world."

...

When Gray arrived to his apartment the first thing he did was check the time. It was almost 11:00 pm. Luckily for him, Juvia worked in the afternoon tomorrow. He removed his shoes, leaving them at the doorway and placing his jacket in the closet.

"Juvia? I'm home." He called out, walking into the kitchen. He didn't see her but noticed she had placed something in the oven to bake. He smiled at the sweet scent and continued to walk down the hall. When he passed the bathroom he heard noises from the tub. He opened the door, and spotted Juvia sitting with her knees to her chest in the warm water.

She shifted her glance to look at him, a small smile settling on her face.

"Juvia was beginning to get worried."

He moved closer to her, placing a hand on her bare back. "I'm sorry, I should have called you." He placed his hands on her face, kissing her deeply.

He removed his clothing quickly, and settled himself in the tub with her seated between his legs. She leaned her head back into his chest, relaxing more as his arms wrapped themselves around her.

"Where was Gray-sama tonight?" She asked, placing her pale hands over his.

He interlaced their fingers, taking a deep breath before beginning to explain everything to her. She smiled at his story, turning to face him and wrapping her arms around him.

"Gray is in a band now? Juvia is glad."

He shrugged, "well, I told Jellal I'm only agreeing to one rehearsal."

Juvia giggled, shutting her eyes and placing her head on his chest. "As long as Gray is happy. Juvia will support him."

"I know." He said softly, placing his lips on her hands. "That's why I love you."

* * *

 **Well, this chapter was pretty hard to write. I don't think it's that good but it only gets better from here. Thank you to everyone who is following and reviewing. Hope to hear more from you guys!**

 **Song used was D-tecnolife by Uverworld. I did not put the whole song, only a few lyrics.**

 **Thanks for reading! Please review so I can have some more motivation.**


	4. Falling Together

**What I Live For**

"I'm the son of rage and love."

-Green Day

 **Please R &R.**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

 _Bandnames/Song names I do not own_ / **Song Lyrics.**

 _Previously:_

 _He interlaced their fingers, taking a deep breath before beginning to explain everything to her. She smiled at his story, turning to face him and wrapping her arms around him._

 _"Gray is in a band now? Juvia is glad."_

 _He shrugged, "well, I told Jellal I'm only agreeing to one rehearsal."_

 _Juvia giggled, shutting her eyes and placing her head on his chest. "As long as Gray is happy. Juvia will support him."_

 _"I know." He said softly, placing his lips on her hands. "That's why I love you."_

 **IV. Falling Together**

* * *

She felt a warm scarf wrap around her neck, followed by two arms around her waist, and lastly, a chin rest on top of her head. Juvia sighed, able to see her breath because of the beginning transition from fall to winter. It was a pretty chilly day. Almost everyone walking down the streets had begun to use heavier jackets, hats, and even scarves. Juvia was wearing a dark red knitted sweater, along with a short black skirt, black stockings and brown knee high boots. She nervously nibbled on her bottom lip, her eyes remaining on the empty train tracks in front of her.

"You're shaking." Gray said softly. "It'll be okay." He reassured, pressing a kiss to her head before resting his chin on it again.

"Juvia knows..." She whispered. "Juvia is... Just... Juvia..."

He chuckled. "You're cute when you're nervous."

"Juvia isn't nervous... She's scared." She stepped forwards and turned to look at him. "What if it wasn't the right thing to do? What if she comes back and hates Juvia for getting involved!" She swallowed a lump in her throat and moved towards him for comfort. "Juvia just wanted to help her."

"She's your best friend." Gray said to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "I remember how sad you were when she left, but she's back now. She's gonna be better, and once she's with you again she'll be able to put this behind her."

She ran a hand through her wavy hair, looking back at the train tracks. "O-okay..."

"She'll need her best friend to be smiling." He told her and kissed her cheek. "I promise you Juvia. It'll be fine."

A short while passed. Juvia was pacing back and forth wondering when the train was going to appear. She checked the time on her cellphone, quickly tossing it back in her purse when she heard the train approaching. A large grin spread across her face and she turned to her boyfriend.

"She's here!"

"Let's hope we find her fast." He mumbled, grabbing her hand as many people began to emerge or step closer to the train to find their friends or family members.

Juvia rose an eyebrow, looking around the large crowd of people who were walking in random direction. "What if we don't find her? Of if she's hiding and doesn't want to see Juvia?!"

Gray looked down at his girlfriend with concern. As he was going to say something his eyes widened when she was tackled into a strong hug.

"JUVIA!"

The bluenette' eyes widened. She immediately recognized the voice. "L-Lisanna? You don't hate Juvia?"

The platinum blonde laughed, pulling away. "Are you crazy? I could never hate my best friend. If it wasn't for you I probably wouldn't be here right now." She wrapped her arms around Juvia again. "It's so good to see you!"

Juvia smiled softly, before hugging her best friend once more. "Juvia... really missed you."

"Yeah," Lisanna whispered softly, a smile on her face. "I missed you too."

They pulled away and looked to Gray when he finally caught up to him. "Well well. Lisanna it's good to have you back."

The short haired girl turned around and smiled at him.

"It feels good to be back." She sighed, still smiling.

"So, are you feeling better?" Gray asked, picking up the bag she had dropped when she tackled Juvia in a hug.

She nodded. Her large blue eyes looking right at him. "Yeah! I'm better now. I'm totally better!"

"That's good to hear." Juvia responded. "Elfman-sama is sorry he could not get out of work, but he wants to see you as soon as possible."

Lisanna smirked. "Right. But, let's forget about my big brother right now. I need to go shopping then I want to get my nails done and then go shopping again. I'll just visit big brother Elf before we have lunch."

They made their way out of the station and into the chilly city streets. Lisanna sighed happily. She felt good to be back home. She was dressed in a dark blue knitted sweater with light blue jeans and brown boots. She turned back to look at the couple, with a large smile.

"So where to?" She asked.

Juvia pressed her lips together before stepping forwards and asking, "did you...eat... something on the train?"

Lisanna rose an eyebrow, before quickly bursting out in laughter. "Juvia you don't have to worry about that. I told you I'm better. I'm totally better."

The bluenette nodded. "Juvia knows. It's just..."

Lisanna pulled out a candy wrapper from her purse. "See? I had this big chocolate bar on the train." She smiled and stuffed it back in her purse. "Totally better. One hundred percent. Can we shop now? I've gained weight and need new clothes."

Juvia smiled softly. "Of course."

"As fun as shopping sounds." Gray interjected. "Today I have to meet up with the guys today, so I'll have to catch up with you girls later."

"What guys?" Lisanna asked curiously.

"Gray-sama is in a band now." Juvia answered, looking up at her boyfriend.

"A band?" Lisanna repeated.

Gray sighed. "It seems like it. We're kinda seeing where it goes. Today's our first official meeting though, so I'd better get going."

Juvia nodded. "Will you meet us for lunch?"

He smiled sweetly at her, "I'm not sure how long we'll be over there but I'll call you." He pecked her lips. "I'll see you later."

She nodded, returning the smile, watching as he walked away.

Lisanna hooked her arm into Juvia's as they moved in the opposite direction of Gray.

"It seems you two are still better than ever." She noted, raising an eyebrow with a smirk. "Am I hearing any wedding bells soon?"

Juvia giggled, looking at the ground with a blush. "Gray-sama does want to get married, and we have talked about it before... but we just like the way things are right now."

Lisanna pouted. "C'mon. You guys are so in love, you live together, you let him have you whenever he wants so one of these days there might be a little Gray on the way..."

Juvia blushed, shaking her head. "No Lisanna is completely wrong!" She cried. "Juvia wants to be a mother one day but... Not anytime soon! Gray-sama just joined a band, and Juvia wants to open her very own bakery soon!"

Lisanna giggled, wrapping her arms around the flustered woman. "I really missed you."

"What about you? Is Lisanna ready to get back into the dating world?" Juvia probably could have guessed the answer. For the past 30 days, Lisanna had been in a clinic getting treatment for an eating disorder she had been battling for a long time. After Juvia had lost her memory, and was wandering the world scared and alone, Lisanna was the first person she had met. They became great friends and soon began to work together. Juvia was grateful to have another girlfriend she could talk to. There was always Evergreen of course, who was just as kind. But if Juvia was to name the person she trusted the most besides her boyfriend, Gray, it would have to be Lisanna.

"Nope. No new relationships." She winked at Juvia. "The doctor said I should just focus on me now."

Juvia nodded. "As long as you're better."

Lisanna put a thumbs up. "I am. One hundred percent."

...

"I'm glad you all made it." Jellal began, standing in front of a chalkboard in the old music room. Gray looked around in awe, while Gajeel leaned against the wall and Natsu sat on the drum set. "Our first order of business, is what music genre we will be playing. The obvious choice would be to try and make it as a rock band, don't you think?"

Ignoring him, Gray's eyes landed on the half packed up boxes in the old classroom. There were wires everywhere, all kinds of instruments, cd's and old records that nobody had seen in over 50 years. He spotted the bass he had played the night they first played together, before turning to stare at the grand piano. "How have I never been in this room before?" He asked, out loud.

Natsu turned to look at him. "According to Jellal, this building has been abandoned for like the past two years. There isn't a music program at MC anymore."

Gajeel rose an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Are you serious?"

Jellal nodded and with a soft sigh said, "Nobody seemed to notice when they got here." He jumped up to take a seat on the dusty teachers desk which had been shoved into a corner. "Since nobody wants to be a professional musician anymore they cut all funding for the music programs and just threw everything in here. It's pretty sad."

"They could've at least donated this stuff." Gray mumbled loud enough for the guys to hear him. "I mean, there are orphanages and places like that which need donations for the kids."

Gajeel turned to look at Jellal, a smirk settling on his lips. "So this could be our base of operations, and the dean or professors wouldn't have a single clue."

"Not one." Jellal answered, looking between the three young men. "Luckily for us, things just seem to be falling together. Even if we did not have this space, we can always use that old storage building underneath your apartment."

It was a Saturday morning when they had finally decided to get together to actually plan out what they wanted to do. They sat in Magnolia College's old music building, a bit awkwardly since they were only beginning to get to know each other.

Gray was dressed pretty casually. He wore a dark green jacket over a plain black v-neck, straight dark blue jeans, red Vans, and his sword chain hung around his neck tying his outfit together. "Alright look. I told you before, I'm only agreeing to one rehearsal. I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a girlfriend who I prioritize more than anything." He began to remove his jacket, dropping it over the lid of the grand piano. "If this isn't worth it and starts to disturb my personal life I'm out."

"Now Gray." Jellal stood up. "We're not only a band now, but I'd like to think of us as friends. We need to trust each other. I mean after all, we will be working very closely together." He was dressed in a grey _Fall Out Boy_ pull over sweatshirt, and black jeans. He had on brown male boots, and a black watch around his wrist.

Natsu nodded in agreement. "Yeah that's right. Maybe we should do those introduction things they make you do on the first day of school." He suggested. Natsu wore a plain white tee with an unbuttoned long sleeved plaid shirt over, faded skinny jeans and white Nike sneakers.

Gajeel scoffed. "Ugh. Not that again." He had on ripped jeans, male leather boots, a dark green shirt, a dark jean jacket, and a red bandana slightly taming his wild hair. He had fingerless gloves on his hands, and with all his piercings he looked like a total rockstar. "I really thought the last time I would do that was back in high school."

Jellal chuckled. "I think it's an excellent idea. I'll start."

"Don't start getting sentimental and sharing anything too personal." Gray interjected.

Jellal began to pace, "I'm Jellal Fernandes, I grew up here in Magnolia alongside my cousin Levy and our grandfather, who played music for a living. I'm a third year student here, and I can sing and I play the keyboard. Music is the thing I love most in the world."

"That's the basic stuff we already know about you." Gajeel commented. Jellal shrugged with a smile.

"Gray didn't want us getting too personal right? And I agree, we can get to know more about each other as time goes on. How about you go next Gajeel?" The blue haired man suggested.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "I'm Gajeel Redfox. I hate a lot of things. Especially annoying, know it all, punks that piss me off. I play guitar and I'm into heavy metal."

They all turned to Gray. "Well. I'm Gray Fullbuster. I moved here about a year and a half ago, I haven't really played much bass since my second year in high school. I live with my girlfriend, and I was classically trained on the piano from age 7 till 13."

Natsu stood up, walking forwards. "I'm Natsu Dragneel. I've always played drums. I have a little sister named Wendy. I like fire."

"He's a fucking pyromaniac." Gajeel hissed.

"I feel like I know you all a lot better." Gray said sarcastically with a small smile on his face. He crossed his arms and leaned against the grand piano which has had its wheels removed. Gajeel smirked while Natsu chuckled a bit.

Jellal pulled out his cellphone, pulling up an Internet ad and showing it to them. "When we played together last time we did great, even with no rehearsals. If we practice do you guys imagine how musich better we'll sound?"

Gray looked at the screen, his eyes widening slightly. "You want us to sign up for Battle of the Bands contest which is only two weeks away?"

"You fucking crazy!?" Gajeel exclaimed.

Jellal rubbed the back of his head. "Well I have been called insane a lot in the past week."

They all looked back to the door when Levy McGarden walked in the room, holding four medium sized energy drink bottles in her hands. "Hey guys!" She greeted cheerfully. "I brought you some drinks. I would have brought you coffee but Gajeel hates coffee."

"Alright Levy!" Natsu cheered, walking over and grabbing the fruit punch flavored one. "This was much needed thank you."

She handed one to Gray, who graciously accepted, "Thanks."

She set Jellal's down beside then handed one to Gajeel.

"Is that the only reason you came here?" Gajeel asked, immediately opening it and taking a sip.

She pressed her lips together, fidgeting slightly. "Well... Every band needs a number one fangirl don't you think?"

He looked down at her studying her outfit a bit. She wore a short, red, ruffled skirt, with a white, long sleeved shirt tucked in. The shirt was trimmed with red lace, she had a matching headband on, and she wore ankle boots on her small feet.

The tall man rolled his sharp, red eyes. "You might be even crazier than Jellal."

"Given we were raised in the same home, it's understandable." Jellal added. "Anyways thank you Levy, now back to the battle of the bands discussion."

Levy's eyes widened. "You guys are playing in the battle of the bands? That's like, two weeks away!"

Natsu nodded. "We know."

"You do know that in order to participate in a battle of the bands we need to have original work right? We haven't even decided on a music genre!" Gray commented, rubbing a hand through his hair.

Jellal placed his phone back in his pocket. "I'm aware. We can work together to write a song, and spend a week practicing it."

Natsu rose an eyebrow. "You make it sound so easy."

Jellal walked towards the closet and pulled out a keyboard, setting it on a desk. "You guys, we don't have to win. We just have to get people to hear us."

Moving slowly, Gray took a seat on a small table. "Why would we even sign up for something we aren't trying to win?" He asked, opening his drink and beginning to take a sip. "I don't think we should do it."

"I've already signed us up." Jellal commented.

Gray spit out what he was drinking, Natsu choked on his drink and Gajeel glared at him.

"YOU DID WHAT?!" They yelled in unison.

"It's the perfect first gig." Jellal tried to argue. "C'mon, when we're playing at sold out arenas it'll be cool to say we started off at a local battle of the bands competition."

"Are you even listening to yourself?!" Natsu yelled. "Usually I'd be in on your crazy plans but this is insane."

Jellal rose an eyebrow. "We can't lose anything by trying."

"Except our reputations. If anyone we know appears and watches us and we make fools out of ourselves I might kill someone." Gajeel commented. Sitting down and pulling out a book from her bag, Levy chuckled lightly at his comment.

"Now let's not be negative." The blue haired man began. "We create our future with the decisions we make in our present. I know it's crazy. But I also know that we can do this."

Gray rose an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Alright Jellal. Tell us. Why do you want to be a professional musician again? Don't hit me with music runs the world line again. There has to be some ulterior motive."

"I don't follow." Jellal responded quickly, not looking up.

Natsu scratched the back of his head. "Yeah me either."

"If you're asking why I want to be a musician than its simple. I was given a talent. I want the world to know what it is." Jellal said, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. "I know that you all have talent too, if we just put our minds to it, and actually try, we can say something with our music. Remind this school and others that music truly matters. Hey, who knows we may even win battle of the bands."

"Alright." Natsu began. "So what are we gonna play?"

Jellal turned to Gray. "Remember when I went though your notebook?"

Gray rolled his eyes before crossing his arms. "Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I saw this page of music lyrics you had written down, and I hope you don't mind but I edited them a bit."

Gray sighed softly, surprisingly he didn't feel angry. He knew his lyrics needed work. "Which song was it?"

"I believe you called it _Diver_ , but I only took a stanza and added music to it." Jellal looked down at the keyboard. "Alright well here it goes." Jellal's fingers moved against the keyboard, and he began to play just as good as usual. Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel watched with interest.

 **Fighting to hold on tight,**

 **Yearning for a breath of life!**

 **I cannot tell if I'm alive, but**

 **Feels like I'm a suffocating diver!**

 **Staring with endless sight,**

 **Into a darkened night.**

 **Taking in one last breath I dive into the unknown.**

 **To the endlessness I go!**

"Gray you really wrote that?" Natsu asked with shock.

The young man looked away, rubbing the back of his dark hair. "It was a while ago after my parents died..." He said quickly without realizing it. "I guess it came back to me in math class."

Jellal looked at Gray. "It's a good song, if we work on the lyrics a bit and compose music sheets I'm sure we'll be ready to play this by Battle of the Bands. That is if you're okay with us using it."

"It's cool with me." Gray responded. "Yeah. Let's do it."

"So it seems we're actually doing this." Jellal said. "The last thing, but the most important, is our band name."

"Band name?" Gajeel repeated. "Well it's gotta be somethin' hardcore."

"Yeah I agree." Gray added. "Something that says were a rock band."

Natsu stood up from his spot, a finger in the air. "I've got it. Natsu and the Dragon Slayers."

The three young men deadpanned.

"Is he serious?" Gray mumbled.

Gajeel grit his teeth. "I don't even know anymore."

"I like the dragon part." Jellal admitted. "But I was thinking more of a one word name."

"This has got to be the hardest part of being in band." Gray mumbled, rubbing his temples.

"I still think we should call it Natsu and the Dragon Slayers." The pink haired young man commented.

Gajeel and Gray glared back at him. "ITS NOT FUCKING HAPPENING!"

He crossed his arms with a pout on his face. "Well ice-brains or metal face aren't coming up with anything better."

Gray stepped forwards. "You trying to pick a fight with me?"

"I'm all fired up. Let's go!"

"Hey now. Let's keep a level head." Levy interjected, getting up from her spot.

Gajeel rose an eyebrow. "You've been quiet. I almost forgot you were in here."

She shrugged. "I was just reading this book on some rocks for my science class. I guess I got lost in the world of literature."

"A book on rocks? You were that bored?" Natsu questioned.

She furrowed her brows, glaring at him. "I'll have you know there are some pretty interesting facts about these things. Like there's this thing called Etherion which-"

They all turned to her with interest as if in that instant they were all thinking the same thing. There is a moment when the stars align. When fate gives you an obvious sign. This was that moment. She gave them a confused look, holding her book to her side while backing away.

"Etherion..." Jellal repeated.

"That's pretty hardcore." Gajeel added.

Gray smirked. "I like it."

Natsu nodded. "Yeah me too."

"So it's agreed." Jellal began. "From this moment on, we will be known as Etherion."

"Strange, but it's not bad." Levy commented. "People will get used to it."

"Alright!" Jellal cheered. "How about we play a song we all know just to see how that would go."

Gajeel picked up his guitar with a smirk. "Now we're talking."

Natsu moved back to the drum set already in the classroom, pulling out his drum sticks from his back pocket. "I'm fired up now."

Jellal stayed at his keyboard while Gray picked up the bass guitar which he had been using lately.

"Which song?" Gajeel asked.

"How about _Strike Back_? You know that song from _Back On_?" Natsu suggested.

Gray nodded. "That's a good one. Let's go."

"Fine by me." Jellal commented.

They began to play together, The bass and the guitar starting off while Natsu slowly made his way in, keeping the sound in sync. Jellal had begun to sing, as well as Gajeel and Gray who somewhere along the lines found themselves singing along. As they played they each focused on their instruments and how to contribute to the song playing in the best way possible.

They weren't as good as the ones they had at home, as a matter of fact, none of the instruments in that classroom were in that good of a condition. But they didn't care. They made them sound good. Music was music. It was what they lived for.

* * *

 **Well finally, they've become an official band. Sorry if this was kind of boring. Drama begins to pick up next chapter. Yes. There will be tons of drama. Hope you liked it. Please leave a review so I know people are reading, also on what I can improve.**

 **Song lyrics were from the song Diver, by NICO touches the wall.**

 **Thanks for reading & thank you to you all who have reviewed. Please keep them coming!**


	5. Days Before the Battle

**What I Live For**

"The hotter the battle the sweeter the victory."

-Bob Marley.

 **Please R &R.**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. I do not own ANY songs used either.**

 _Thoughts_ /

 _Previously:_

 _They all turned to her with interest as if in that instant they were all thinking the same thing. There is a moment when the stars align. When fate gives you an obvious sign. This was that moment. She gave them a confused look, holding her book to her side while backing away._

 _"Etherion..." Jellal repeated._

 _"That's pretty hardcore." Gajeel added._

 _Gray smirked. "I like it."_

 _Natsu nodded. "Yeah me too."_

 _"So it's agreed." Jellal began. "From this moment on, we will be known as Etherion."_

 **V. Days Before the Battle**

* * *

"Battle of the bands?" Juvia asked curiously, setting down a mug of hot coffee for her boyfriend. "That sounds... Fun..." She said softly, turning back to flip the pancakes she was making.

Gray sighed, picking up the purple mug in his hands. "Well Jellal signed us up without consulting us." He took a sip of the hot drink before setting it back down on the counter top. "He's like a little kid though, it's hard to say no to him. Somehow, he manages to get us to agree with his crazy plans."

Juvia nodded in understanding, a small smile sitting on her lips. "But it seems like you're having fun with them, yes?"

He rubbed the back of his head, looking to the ceiling. "Well, when we play a song it's like we were meant to play together. It just... Works. It's strange, but it does." He leaned back, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. "That's the only reason I'm probably still hanging around them. They're great musicians, and Jellal and Gajeel have strong voices, but man, are those guys easy to argue with. Especially Natsu for some reason."

She turned to look at him. "Your voice is lovely too." She walked towards the fridge. "Juvia loves it when you sing to her."

He smirked, reopening his eyes to look at her. "Altogether were not that bad. Actually, Etherion is kind of great... Just wait till you hear us."

"Juvia is certain Etherion is amazing." She commented, turning her attention back to the pancakes she had been working on. "Its a unique name. Strange, but very likeable."

He grinned, moving up behind her. He stared at the food she was making for a moment before leaning in towards her ear. "You know I got pretty lucky."

"Why is that?" She asked, glancing back at him.

"I found a sweet, kind, beautiful girl, who knows how to cook, and is amazing in bed." He rubbed her leg lightly. "I'm glad I found you that day instead of some other guy."

She blushed, playfully pushing him away when he attempted to begin to touch her in other places. "Gray-sama! Not right now." She cried, knowing if he had continued she wouldn't have been able to resist him.

He chuckled. "You're too cute for you're own good." He walked towards the freezer and pulled out the ice cube tray. "But anyway, it seems like we might actually pull it off and compete, so let's find an excuse on why you can't make it to work the next morning. I'll want to celebrate after my first performance with the girl I love." He said with a wink.

She turned back to look at him, with a blush and a smile. He dropped a couple of ice cubes in his coffee before placing the tray back in the freezer. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him when he turned back around. She pressed her lips lightly over his before placing her head on his chest.

"What was that for?" He asked, keeping his arms around her waist.

She grinned and poked his nose before kissing it. "Just don't change."

He brushed his fingers through her soft, blue hair. "Did you finish making pancakes?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yes. Want something else with tha-"

He lifted her up off of the ground, crashing his lips on hers and carrying her out of the kitchen. She wrapped her legs around his waist, running her fingers through his dark hair, kissing him back with that same fiery passion. She pulled away, panting softly as he placed kisses on her chest.

"Gray-sama... At least... Bed..."

He grunted and pressed her against the hall way wall, quickly removing the baggy sweats and spaghetti strap shirt she was in, and kissing her again. "Can't make it." He mumbled against her lips.

She moaned. He panted. _Loudly_. They never made it to the bedroom.

A few hours passed and Gray sat on his couch, in front of the coffee table with papers scattered all over it. He had his bass guitar next to him and white earphones in his ears. He scratched down some words on a piece of paper before grabbing his bass and strumming the strings. He nodded his head as he played, enjoying the sound he was creating. He cleared his throat a bit, before he began to experiment with the lyrics he had written to go with the beat.

As he was singing, a sudden knock at his door caught his attention. He rose an eyebrow, setting the bass guitar aside while standing up to open it. He completely forgot he was shirtless, his hair was messier than usual, and he had love bites and other marks on his upper body.

"Good morning!" Jellal greeted when the door fully opened. He looked at Gray who was in nothing but black ankle socks, joggers, and the silver cross chain he always wore.

"Geez, put some clothes on." Natsu muttered, after examining his band mate.

Gray's eyes widened and he jumped back slightly. "What the hell? What are you guys doing here?" Knowing Jellal, he didn't bother to ask how he found out where he lived. If the guy wanted to become a private investigator or something around that field, he'd definitely be great at that.

"I thought it would be a good time to get together and finish up the composition sheets." Jellal explained. "Etherion plays at the Battle of the Bands next Saturday. We need to be prepared."

Gray sighed with slight annoyance, "Are we gonna be those kinds of friends who just barge into each others houses? Cause I didn't agree to that." He stepped aside allowing them to enter.

Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head as he looked around. Gray's apartment was very clean and neat. It even smelled clean, unlike his place which smelled like pizza, beer, and cigarette smoke by courtesy of Gajeel. Gray's place was fairly small yes. But still very nice.

"Whoa, it's like your a chick or something. This place is so clean." He commented, moving around a bit.

Gray shrugged. "My girlfriend doesn't like messes. Neither do I for that matter."

Jellal looked around as well. Curious to find out more about his bandmate. "It's nice here, Gray. I wasn't expecting this at all."

The dark haired man smirked. "Well, now that you know my place is clean I'd like it to stay that way." He said, more to Natsu than Jellal.

Natsu pouted for a moment before taking a seat on the couch. "I guess Gajeel and I could stand to clean our apartment... Or you could come over and do it for-"

"Don't even think about." Gray interjected quickly, glaring at him.

They heard soft footsteps coming towards them, and all looked back to see Juvia, dressed in a black and white stripped shirt tucked into, a knee length black skirt and black heels. She was slightly taken aback by the appearance of the two men in her home but quickly shook it off and smiled sweetly at them.

"Oh. Juvia was not aware that there was company." She bowed her head slightly and politely. "It's nice to meet you. Juvia is Gray's girlfriend."

Natsu and Jellal's eyes widened as they looked to the professionally dressed blue haired woman. "So cute..." They mumbled in unison, keeping their eyes on her.

"Quit staring at my girlfriend!" Gray shouted, knocking them out of their state.

Juvia simply giggled. Jellal shook his head and smiled back at her.

"That's Jellal." Gray began. "And that's Natsu. My band mates."

"And his friends." Jellal responded. "It's nice to meet you."

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, hi."

Juvia looked between the three men before raising an eyebrow. "Wait a second. Juvia thought that there are four of you?"

"There are." Jellal responded. "But apparently Gajeel isn't a morning person."

Natsu crossed his arms and nodded twice. "Yeah. It's impossible to get his lazy ass out of bed before eleven if we don't have class."

She remained silent for a moment before nodding. "Juvia understands. Juvia's best friend is the exact same way." She laughed, turning around towards the kitchen. "Can Juvia get you two anything? There are pancakes left over from breakfast... or Juvia could make something for you to eat before she goes off to work. Juvia can also make tea or coffee if you'd prefer."

"So cute..." They mumbled again.

"She's like the adorable little sister character." Natsu added in. "She reminds me of my little sisters."

Gray glared at them before sighing, "Juvia, you don't have to. These guys and I have work to do anyways and- Hey!"

He was cut off when he spotted Natsu and Jellal enter the kitchen after his girlfriend. He rubbed his temples before following after them. He entered the kitchen and spotted his bandmates quickly making themselves at home. He kept a serious face at first but his scowl slowly melted when he spotted the three people in front of him laughing happily together. Juvia glanced over at him and smiled sweetly. He returned the smiled and leaned against the wall watching Natsu and Jellal argue over who gets the final pancake, forgetting that they both have about three on their plates.

 _'If_ _they_ _can make Juvia smile_ _like_ _that... I guess having these guys_ _as_ _friends_ _won't_ _be_ so bad.' Gray thought to himself.

...

The weather seemed to be getting colder and colder. Gajeel grunted as he made his way towards the address that Jellal had sent him. He stuffed his free hand in his black jacket pocket while he used the other one to hold his guitar which was in a case. As he kept walking he had finally made it to the apartment complexes. It was a fairly small neighborhood, and most of the buildings were pretty much in the same style. He sighed, and started making his way towards the building his band mates were in when suddenly he spotted a silver car, he recognized as Gray's making its way out of the neighborhood. He didn't pay much attention to it at first, until suddenly his eyes landed on the figure driving the car. Her familiar large eyes, her bright blue hair he could see clearly since the windows were not tinted. He stopped for a moment, his eyes widening as the car passed him. He remained still for a moment, before shaking it off and turning to look back, only to see the car turn to enter the main road.

 _'That looked like...'_ He stopped and turned while shaking his head. _'No, it can't be... I'm just seeing things...'_

He found the front door of Gray's apartment, knocking on it, waiting for someone to open it. The sound of the lock unlocking, followed by the doorknob turning made him look up. He came face to face with Gray, who gave him a half nod before letting him inside.

"Any particular reason your half naked?" Gajeel commented, looking around Gray's apartment with interest.

Gray sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Nobody told me we were gonna meet at my place, so it wasn't like I was exactly expecting company."

Gajeel chuckled a bit, briefly glancing at Gray while crossing his arms "I have a feeling we should get used to these kinds of surprises."

"No kidding." Gray mumbled, walking back towards where Jellal and Natsu were. "So... No Levy?" He mentioned, slowly.

Gajeel was a bit surprised by the sudden question but he shook it off, and asked. "Why would there be a Levy?"

Gray looked away from him and shrugged. "No reason, just thought you two were dating or she'd tag along or something. You two are always together."

The long haired man scoffed, "yeah right. I know you're all proud and shit about having a girlfriend, but I ain't into that stuff. Never have been, never will be."

"You never wanna be serious with someone?" Gray asked, not changing his monotone.

"Nah." Gajeel replied quickly. "Some guys are cut out for that stuff, I ain't."

"Cut out for what kind of stuff?" Jellal asked, curious as to what his band mates were talking about when they stepped back into the room.

"Relationships." Gajeel grinned while taking a seat on the couch. "They're nothing but trouble to me, but according to ice head over here they're something nice."

"Can someone tell me how I got this 'ice' nickname?" Gray grumbled, landing on the couch besides Jellal who simply shrugged.

Natsu sat backwards on a chair, smirking over at Gray before replying. "You're the only guy I've seen drink iced coffee in 30 degree weather."

Gray rolled his eyes before turning back to the music sheets. "The cold doesn't bother me. I actually prefer it."

Jellal turned to look at Gajeel. "Glad you could make it. Earlier than Natsu had predicted too."

"Didn't have nothing better to do." He responded quickly, unzipping his case and taking out his guitar. "Got amps here or what?"

Jellal shook his head. "Gray's apartment is a good place to plan out things, but for rehearsals I believe that the building underneath your apartment would be appropriate or the music room at MC. Since you don't have neighbors the sound wont bother people."

Gray nodded. "As good as we sound, I have some neighbors who would get pretty annoying about loud noises."

Natsu looked to Gajeel with a serious face. Upon catching his glare, Gajeel grit his teeth.

"What the fuck are you staring at, Salamander?" He grumbled.

Natsu grit his teeth and lifted his finger to point at him. "Listen up, this place smells good, and it looks neat and I've taken a liking to it. So I've decided. Gray and I should switch roommates. I get his girlfriend and he gets you."

The pink haired man yelped when a notebook was thrown at him by Gray. The young man stood up, his eyes narrowed a bit. "Shut up flame for brains."

Natsu jumped up immediately and got in Gray's face. "It was a joke you fucking stripper. You wanna go?"

"Bring it on you pink haired-"

"Alright guys. Settle down." Jellal interjected. "I don't think she would be happy to return and find her apartment trashed."

Gray rolled his eyes before sitting back down. "Whatever. Let's just finish this."

Gajeel leaned forwards. He had removed his jacket and had tied his hair back. "Alright so you've got the lyrics down you just need the composition?"

Jellal nodded. "Yes. That and musical arrangements. I thought you'd be pretty good at something like that."

Gajeel grabbed a paper, reading over the lyrics before picking up his guitar. He looked at the composition sheet and settled his guitar before he began to play some random part.

"It ain't looking too bad." He admitted.

Natsu stood up and looked over his music sheets. "Yeah this drum set notation doesn't look to hard. I could practice tonight and be ready for our next rehearsal."

Jellal smiled. "That's great to hear. I'm not too familiar with the drums so if there's something you'd like to change feel free to."

Gray grabbed his bass and began to strum the notes along with Gajeel's guitar. Jellal watched with interested and looked at the lyrics while experimenting the sound of them with the playing music. Natsu began to tap on the coffee table easily finding a simple beat to go along with. They continued like that for a few minutes, before they all decided it was time to try and practice the song for real.

They arrived at Magnolia College, outside of the music room where they had met the last time. Jellal typed in the code on the keypad which easily gave them access to enter the building. Gray followed in after Jellal, flipping on the light switch before setting his bass down.

"I seriously still think we could get expelled for breaking in here, even though nobody comes here anymore." Gray muttered.

"We wont get expelled for this." Jellal assured. "Nobody has even noticed. I've told you guys before, this building was pretty much abandoned until we came."

Gajeel grunted while Natsu scratched his head.

"You think they'll notice if we order a pizza and have it delivered here. I'm starving." The pink haired drummer complained.

Gray rose an eyebrow. "What? You're kidding right? You had like four pancakes at my place."

"That was for breakfast. It's time for lunch. I need food now." Natsu continued, making his way out of the classroom and into the hallway.

"Where the fuck are you going?" Gajeel asked, watching his friend stumble down the dark hallway.

Jellal rubbed his temples, shaking his head a bit and giving a loud sigh, "We're probably not going to rehearse today, are we?"

Gray stepped into the hall after Natsu, followed by Jellal and Gajeel.

"Natsu, quit screwing around will you! We gotta practice! Where the hell did you go?"

"Down here!" Natsu called from down the hall. They followed the sound of his voice, until finally they spotted him in front of an old looking soda machine. "It ain't food, but it'll give me the energy to keep practicing."

"We haven't practiced at all yet." Jellal commented, looking to the ceiling.

Gajeel stepped forwards, examining the old soda machine. "How long do you think this thing has been hidden back here?"

"Yeah, I don't think it's sanitary to try and drink whatever comes out of that thing." Gray mumbled, watching as Natsu pulled on the nozzle.

"It'll be fine!" Natsu assured shrugging them off. "Besides we could bring this thing back with us and refill it."

Jellal looked at the old soda machine, his eyes narrowing slightly before he lifted his finger to point at it. "Wait a second, what does that say?"

Natsu turned to look at him before looking back at the machine. There had been a sticker plastered onto it, but the color it had was faded out. "Umm... It says... Fairy Tail... That's a weird name."

"Do fairies even have tails?" Gray mumbled in a question, as the four young men kept their eyes on the machine.

"Well I think we've wasted enough time." Gajeel grumbled.

"Yes. Let's head back to the classroom and practice the song. Natsu, bring the machine."

"Alright!" He cheered. "Now let's go practice." He picked up the machine with ease, glancing at Gray as he walked passed him. "You'll thank me for this later."

"Right." Gray mumbled.

They walked back to the music room and practiced like there was no tomorrow.

...

The sound of her heels tapping against the floor was a sound she was getting tired of hearing. Juvia walked around the floor she worked on, handing out small packets with a smile to people she would much rather be flipping off. She didn't exactly hate her job though. Her boss was pretty nice and her coworkers were easy to work with. It was just some people in that office who were stuck up, or extremely uptight. She walked back to her work station with a loud sigh and sat down.

"Whoa was that a sigh that just escaped your lips?" Lisanna teased, looking over at Juvia before laughing a bit. "You're supposed to be the cheerful one. Is everything okay?"

Juvia looked down at the stack papers in front of her, beginning to fold them into thirds. "Yes, everything is okay. Juvia is just... a bit tired that's all."

Lisanna rose an eyebrow and smirked while leaning forwards. "Gray just wont let you rest will he?"

Juvia blushed. "It's not that!" She cried in embarrassment. She looked to the side her cheeks still red. "Well... actually it is that a little bit... He's been a bit stressed out lately. With school, his job, and his music. It's good to get him a but distracted for a little while."

Lisanna laughed, "whatever you say. Just make sure next time you 'distract him' you can come to work a few hours later and move around."

Juvia shook her head with a smile. "Right, Juvia will keep that in mind."

"Alright, I need something to drink. Want something? Lisanna offered, standing up.

"Just water." She turned her seat around to stop her. "Oh and one more thing. Gray's band is playing at this battle of the bands event next Saturday. Want to come?"

"Awesome!" Lisanna nodded. "I'm so there."

Juvia smiled and turned back around. She glanced at the clock before sighing. "4 more hours to go..."

...

It was Friday night, the day before our first performance. Gajeel, Natsu, Jellal and I were in the abandoned storage house, rocking our hearts out. There were blisters on our hands, our bodies drenched in sweat. I remember that night perfectly. We laughed a lot, argued a lot, Natsu started freaking out over stage fright. I knew back then that we weren't experienced enough to go out and compete but we didn't care. Slowly as time passed by I discovered that Jellal was right. I was meant to play with those guys, we were meant to play together. The next day would be our first performance, a whole lot of strangers, as well as people we know would be there. The battle of the bands was going to be fun. Everything would be good afterwards. Things would just fall into place. The best part was that in those rehearsals we discovered that we were more then a band. We were friends. In a short amount of time they had become my best friends. We had each others backs. We were prepared to face each and every obstacle that could come our way. Everything was going to be fine.

At least, that's what I thought.

We didn't anticipate everything that could, and did, go wrong after that.

-Gray Fullbuster

* * *

 **Five** **chapters** **go by quickly. Please if you're reading review to let me know you're reading by leaving a review. I feel like nobody is reading so if you are let me know so I could have motivation to continue this story! I swear, next chapter I'll start getting more into band** **stuff** **since** **next** **chapter is** **finally,** **THE** **BATTLE** **OF** **THE BANDS! Right now** **I'm trying to add in details and build relationships between** **the boys which will be important to the future of the story.**

 **Please review! I really like knowing what people think and when I don't get any I don't feel like working on this story. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorite, or followed so far.**

Niomi Nicole287- Thank you for reviewing twice! I really appreciate it! Hope you liked the chapter!

Laxusdrayer2324- Thank you! Tune in next chapter! I'll try my best to make the Battle of the bands as interesting as it can be.

 **Please** **tune** **in** **next** **time and review please!**


	6. Battle of the Bands

**What I Live For**

"It comes in waves. I close my eyes. Hold my breath. And let it bury me."

-Bring Me The Horizon

 **Please R &R**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. I own NOTHING except the plot.**

 _Thoughts_ / **Song names, band names & lyrics** / _Social Media names._

 **A/N: Now those were some great reviews! Thanks so much you guys I hope you like the chapter!**

Bobsey- Thank you so much! I won't now!

Blaxis- Thank you! And well you're just going to have to wait and see. Hehe.

I make stupid puns- Thanks! And well just wait a few chapters.

Bubblycutie and Awesomenessdude- Thanks a lot! I'm really glad you're enjoying it. Thanks a lot for catching the mistake. I always go back and check but I guess I'll miss a few here and there.

The-Element-Snow- Thanks for your review love ya too! :D As for your questions... Well you're just going to have to wait and see.

Niomi Nicole287- Thanks! & be patient please lol. This is mainly Gruvia cause they're my OTP. But there will be a lot Jerza, NaLu, and GaLe and other pairings later on.

Guest- Thank you

ShizukaPamela- Thanks I'm glad you like it. And as for your question, Lisanna.

myrise- Thank you I'm glad you like it.

Guest- Thanks glad you liked it.

 **A/N #2: I really don't like a lot of bandfics because in some of them chapters are literally just a bunch of lyrics that nobody even reads, so I'm probably going to just put like the name of the song or a few lines of the song.**

 _Previously:_

 _Slowly as time passed by I discovered that Jellal was right. I was meant to play with those guys, we were meant to play together. The next day would be our first performance, a whole lot of strangers, as well as people we know would be there. The battle of the bands was going to be fun. Everything would be good afterwards. Things would just fall into place. The best part was that in those rehearsals we discovered that we were more then a band. We were friends. In a short amount of time they had become my best friends. We had each others backs. We were prepared to face each and every obstacle that could come our way. Everything was going to be fine._

 _At least, that's what I thought._

 _We didn't anticipate everything that could, and did, go wrong after that._

 **VI. Battle of the Bands**

* * *

For the boys of Etherion, sleeping just didn't seem as though it was an option that Friday night. Natsu tossed and turned in bed, Gajeel sat in his bedroom with Levy distracting himself from sleeping, Jellal listened to music while wandering the school campus, and Gray laid in bed with his arm around a sleeping Juvia, not taking his eyes off of the ceiling. They weren't too nervous per say. The battle of the bands was simply a local event being held at the Farewell Fall Festival in downtown Magnolia. The top three winners would receive a shopping spree at the Magnolia Town Mall, which was sponsoring the whole event. They knew they were ready. All of them knew, even if they wouldn't admit it, that they were destined to meet and start a band. They could be something big. Something important. When they played their song they truly believed they could win. Like they could be successful, but they were still a bit uneasy since it would be the first time any of them would be performing for a crowd. None the less, Gajeel, Gray and Natsu had been reminded once again, of how much they loved music by Jellal.

...

When he heard his alarm sound Gajeel immediately hit the snooze button and turned on his back. He leaned his head to the side, still asleep as his phone began to vibrate. He attempted to ignore the damn thing, debating on whether to smash it to pieces or not. As he was debating he suddenly heard another noise. One that certainly did not belong in his bedroom at 7 in the morning.

"Gajeel..." The soft voice whispered. "Turn it off..."

His red eyes snapped open and he turned to his side to look at her. Levy McGarden was asleep in his bed, wearing only one of his old **Sleeping with Sirens** T-shirts. She groaned again, her eyes squeezing tighter as she turned on her side, her back to him.

He was pretty shocked to say the least. He had never slept in the same bed as a woman unless they were hooking up, and he certainly never brought them to his place. He began to remember the previous night clearly. He had called Levy over at a pretty late hour, and by some miracle she agreed to come. He sat up on his elbows, running a hand through his long hair.

"I didn't do nothing to ya shrimp... Did I?" He mumbled more to himself, taking brief glances at the short girl.

She slowly began to open her eyes when Gajeel's phone went off again. She brought a finger to her eye, wiping away the sleepiness before turning her head to look at him. She smiled at his shocked face, making his heart jump for a brief second.

 _'She's... Cute in the morning...'_ He thought to himself as she sat up and stretched.

"Don't worry." She began, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through her messy hair. "We didn't do anything last night if that's what you think."

Gajeel smirked, shaking off his obvious shock. "I wasn't worrying about that, shorty. It's not like you're my type or nothing." He lied, trying to keep his natural jerk demeanor.

Levy looked away from him, towards the ground. "Y-yeah..." She sighed softly before shaking off his words. "You called me last night saying you needed to talk but we just ended up listening to music, watching pointless videos, and reading till like 3 am."

He shut his eyes, rubbing his head. He really regretted not getting enough sleep last night. "Ugh, I fucking hate Jellal for making me wake up so early."

Levy smiled at him over her shoulder. "I can't wait to hear you guys perform tonight. You should expect a pretty large crowd, full of people around our age."

Gajeel got out of the bed and scanned his messy room for some pants. His eyes landed on his khaki ripped jeans and he quickly pulled them on over his boxers.

"Should we? Why? I thought Magnolia Festivals were family events. You know, for brats and old people."

Levy laughed and grabbed her phone off of the ground, stuffing it in her small purse. "Well, believe it or not, but together Jet and Droy have over a million followers on all of their social media accounts. _Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat,_ and they even have a lot of subscribers on their _YouTube_ channel and likes on their _Facebook_ pages. Half of those people which live here in Magnolia, and attend other high schools and colleges nearby."

Gajeel's eyes widened. He stared at Levy in shock, his mouth gaping. "What?! Those computer nerds have a million fucking followers?!"

She sighed while shrugging her shoulders. "I'm not sure how they did it, but they do. Droy sent out a tweet yesterday telling people to head down to the festival tonight to check out the bands."

Gajeel scoffed, pulling on a plain black shirt. "Great. So just cause he says to come down, it's going to be packed." His voice had a hint of sarcasm which she caught.

She smirked and stood up, pulling her leggings on followed by her boots. "Don't underestimate computer nerds, Gajeel Redfox." She picked up her purse and walked towards his bedroom door. "Magnolia is a big town, way bigger than you think. I'll see you later." She waved and began to walk out.

He placed a fist on his hip as he watched her leave. "She's definitely something else."

Of course. He'd never say that to her face though.

...

"I can't believe you have to work today." Gray grumbled, sitting on the bed watching his girlfriend get dressed for work. "Can't Evergreen or Lisanna cover for you?"

Juvia sighed, finishing buttoning up her long sleeved, blue shirt before she began brushing through her hair. "Lisanna has a shift and Evergreen-San is out of town right now visiting her relatives. Elfman-sama is also heading out tonight as well for a meeting in Hargeon. He needs help making sure everything is prepared."

Gray stood up, walking towards her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Juvia... You're still going to the festival tonight though right?"

She smiled and returned the hug, nuzzling her face in his chest. "Of course. Juvia wouldn't miss it for anything. After work Lisanna and Juvia will change their clothes and head down there."

He pulled away and pressed his lips on her forehead. "Need me to pick you up? I'm sure I can find time too."

She shook her head and examined her clothing once more. She slipped on her black heels and coat. "No it's okay. Lisanna is insisting she has the perfect outfit for Juvia tonight so, we will just head over to her apartment before the festival."

He nodded in understanding, checking his phone once more at the messages his band mates had sent him.

"Alright then, I gotta meet with the guys soon. Natsu and Jellal are saying we need to pre approve each other's outfits."

She laughed softly, "That sound fun. Modeling for your friends."

He smirked and quickly moved forwards to kiss her lips. She smiled into it and ended up stumbling back. They fell back on the bed, his forehead pressed against hers before he leaned down and kissed her again.

"I can't wait for tonight..." He mumbled against her neck, removing a few buttons from her shirt and beginning to leave a love bite on the skin his lips made contact with. "And I'm not talking about performing..."

She laughed, pushing at his chest to lift him up a bit but he simply continued to suck on her skin. "Juvia has the next two days off so... She's all yours to do whatever you want..." She said, a bit seductively.

"Sounds good to me." He purred against the pale skin on her neck. He managed to pull away, and he picked out three different outfits, throwing them in a duffle bag and grabbing his bass. "All of our other equipment is at Natsu and Gajeel's place. I hope the haven't broken anything."

She smiled and they walked out of their home hand in hand. They drove off towards the building Juvia worked him and she kissed and told him she loved him before she walked inside the building. He sighed with a smile on his face, before driving off towards Natsu and Gajeel's place.

...

"This is just perfect." Gajeel began, tapping his foot impatiently against the floor. "He woke us up fucking early and he ain't even here?!"

Natsu set his cell phone down on the table. "It ain't like Jellal to be late. I wonder where he could be. He seemed pretty fired up when I called him earlier. What do you think Gray? Gray?"

Both men turned to look at Gray who was extremely focused on his phone. He was sitting on the recliner, his eyes glued to his bright screen as he scrolled through it.

"Gray!" Gajeel shouted, gaining his attention.

Gray shook his head, locking his phone and slipping it back into his pocket. "Sorry, I was just checking something."

"Checking what?" Natsu asked curiously. "You looked like you were about to get sucked into your phone."

Gray looked between the two before sighing and leaning back. "Nah, it was nothing."

Natsu shrugged and nodded before looking out the window once more. He rose an eyebrow when a black Chevrolet cargo van with a large, blue, spray painted "E" with flames surrounding it painted on the side. The van pulled up next to the abandoned storage house below them.

"I think I found Jellal." Natsu announced.

Gray and Gajeel both stood up, exiting the apartment after Natsu and descending down the stairs. Jellal got out of the drivers seat and smiled at his friends.

"Well? What do you guys think?" He asked, placing his fists on his hips and looking back. "Art is courtesy of Reedus Jonah, another member of Levy's AV Club."

Natsu was the first to laugh, he moved forwards and examined the flames closely. "This is so cool."

"Yeah it's awesome." Gray admitted. "We owe that Reedus guy."

Gajeel crossed his arms. "Where the hell did you even get that thing though?"

Jellal grinned. "Was my grandfather's. But he has no use for it anymore. So he gave it to me."

Gray walked around towards the back of the van, and asked, "It's still in good condition?"

"Should be." Jellal responded quickly, pressing his palm against it. "Every band needs a van."

"Gihihi. Damn right." Gajeel grinned.

Jellal placed his hands in his pockets and looked up to the sky. He let out a breath, able to see it because of the cold weather before he looked back at his friends.

"Thank you guys."

They all looked at him with confused expressions sitting on their faces.

"For what?" Gray asked, exchanging a brief glance with Natsu.

Jellal looked to the ground. "For helping me achieve my dream and sticking around. For making the band work. I seriously am grateful that the four of us became a band, and friends."

Gajeel scoffed. "Don't start crying over some sentimental crap now. It ain't just your dream anymore."

Natsu chuckled. "Yeah, and besides, I don't think I've ever had this much fun playing music until I started playing with you guys."

Gray smirked, leaning back against the van. "The band is just a part of who we are now I guess. We all want to succeed together."

"That's right." Natsu agreed. He stuck his fist in the air and smirked. "Etherion's gonna be playing at sold out arenas."

Gajeel grinned. "We'll have chicks plaster our posters on every inch of their walls."

Gray nodded. "We'll have fandoms and fanfics written about us."

Jellal chuckled, "It's a dream we share now. Well I guess it's not a dream anymore, cause we're making it a reality."

"Alright then." Natsu began, cheering loudly he added, "I'm all fired up! Let's head down to kick some battle of the band asses!"

They all either fist bumped or high fived each other. Their growing bond was also an important factor in the success of the band.

...

Downtown Magnolia was easily labeled as the largest part of the town. It had skyscrapers all around but also some open spaces in some parts. The streets had been closed off because of the festival. Many people had already arrived with their young children. The teenagers and young adults would start pouring in at night when the battle of the bands would commence. After parking their car not too far from where they were to perform later on tonight, the boys headed down to a pizza place to grab lunch before they absolutely needed to start preparing their set for their performance tonight.

When Gajeel had finally decided on an outfit, he was pretty pleased with his outcome. He had on his signature ripped jeans, along with a plain black shirt and a dark jean jacket over. A metal chain hung from his belt and his hair was flowing loosely with a red bandana taming it only slightly. His feet were adorned with black biker boots and his face was just as pierced as usual.

Gray's style was a bit less edgy. He threw on some regular black skinny jeans which did not fit him tight, a button up jean shirt with an open collar, brown male leather boots, and a dark green jacket left open to show off his cross necklace.

Jellal, unlike the guitarists of the band, decided on a red plaid shirt tied around his waist with a plain white shirt. He had his black watch around his wrist, blue skinny jeans and black Vans. He wore a black jacket over the shirt.

Natsu had on his signature scarf. Deciding to wear a button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows along with a black vest which had its sleeves ripped off. He wore ripped black jeans, and low top sneakers. His pink hair was a spiky as can be.

He leaned forwards, sipping soda out of the cup. He had a nervous look on his face, which Jellal was quick to catch.

"Nervous again huh, Natsu?"

"Chill out will you?" Gray grumbled, pulling out his cell phone and beginning to scroll through it. "I mean we sound good, and we know it."

Gajeel took a bite of his pizza. "Yeah and it ain't like we're gonna lose. There are three prizes aren't there? We're bound to win one of them."

Natsu growled. "Don't you guys know that too much confidence ain't good?"

Gajeel stood up. "Whatever, you'd just better not freeze up or the first person whose ass I'll kick tonight is yours." He walked towards the bathroom with Natsu glaring at him.

"Thanks metal face." The pink haired young man sighed and glanced over to Gray who once again was fixated on his cell phone. "Seriously? What are you so focused on man?"

Jellal looked over as well when Gray scratched the back of his head. He sighed and leaned forwards interlacing his fingers.

"Well since the winners tonight get prize money I was just looking at the prices of something, you know, in case we actually won." He messed with the straw in his cup, "I was looking at rings..." He mumbled.

Jellal smiled while Natsu rose an eyebrow.

"My my. Are you planning on proposing to Juvia soon?" Jellal asked.

Gray crossed his arms and stared out the window he was sitting besides. "I mean yeah, why not? I love her, and I'll never find anyone else like her. I have some money saved up but if we win tonight I'd use that money to buy her a ring, and then use the other money for something else." He rested his head on his hand and pouted. "Geez, the more we hang out together the more were sounding like chicks."

Natsu laughed. "At least for the wedding you'll be able to save money on a band... If she says yes that is." He added with a slight smirk.

Gray glared at him and Jellal chuckled at the comment. Gajeel suddenly reappeared with Levy beside him, who had just arrived.

"Hey guys." She greeted, "so? Ready for tonight?"

"Born ready." Jellal replied quickly.

She smiled and pulled out her phone. "A lot of people are competing this year, but the fan favorites are a solo acoustic guitarist named Freed Justine, and a high school band called Sabertooth."

"They any good?" Gajeel asked.

Levy shrugged. "No idea. But they're fan favorites so I guess so."

Gray scratched his chin. "We gotta make sure we play better than they ever did." He glanced at Jellal. "I know you said we didn't have to win, but I sure as hell feel like we could."

Levy grinned. "Well, you've got MC's AV club on your side. Jet and Droy said they'd help you guys set everything up and we brought a bit of equipment of our own."

Gajeel smirked, patting her head. "Not too shabby for a bunch of nerds."

She rolled her eyes at his comment. "Right." She checked the time before gasping lightly. "I've gotta run, I'll see you guys in bit." She turned to run off but stopped and looked back at them. "Oh yeah, one more thing. Rumor has it some scouting agents from various companies are going to appear in disguise searching for the next big thing. Please. Don't get into a fight with some random person." Levy said, looking to Gajeel who rolled his eyes. She giggled and waved before walking away.

Jellal looked to Natsu before smirking. "And let's try not to burn down the stage."

...

Nighttime fell. The streets had been beautifully decorated with Christmas lights, and the flickering bulbs inside of the lampposts. There were more people around, mainly teenagers and young adults claiming there was nothing better to do. There were booths all around. Some selling food, other ones had games or art activities such as face painting and caricature. In the open area, the center of it all, the stage had been set up. Many competitors had already arrived, some enjoying the festival activities while others were nervous about performing.

"A lot of people showed up." Gray said, walking besides his band mates and Levy who had found them again.

She grinned and gave him a wink. "You can thank Jet and Droy for that."

Gajeel scratched the back of his head, looking over the large crowd of people. "I gotta admit I had some doubts."

"The more people the better." Jellal commented. "Well just have to rock extra hard so they can all hear us."

Levy checked the listings on her phone. "You guys are one of the last performances, immediately after Freed Justine, right before Sabertooth."

"I'm curious to see how good those two are." Gray added.

"Yeah me too. I heard Freed competed last year but this is Sabertooths first live performance as well." Levy added.

Jellal glanced around all the people, examining them closely. "I wonder which ones of these people are talent scouters."

"Guess we won't find out till later." Natsu murmured. "In the mean time, I'm gonna go win a fish."

"A fish?" Levy repeated.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "For the fucking cat he's about to get."

"Yup! My little sister Wendy is gonna come drop him off tomorrow." He exclaimed proudly. "I already named him too. Happy."

Music began to play through some speakers that were scattered around the area.

"Alright then, I say we all meet up backstage in half an hour? The competition starts at seven so we'll have plenty of time to get ready." Jellal suggested.

With that said, they all separated and explored the festival grounds.

And just like that, time passed quickly. The members of Etherion were now backstage, checking their instruments. They had already tuned them before but they were double checking. Some people had already performed. Nothing too special though. It seemed most of the outdoor crowd was talking about Sabertooth, given that at least 90% of the people watching were high school and college students. They watched as people walked on and off of the stage. Finally, after about seven performances, a man with long green hair was called out. He carried an acoustic guitar and had a calm, collected demeanor. He slung his guitar over his shoulder, not saying a word. The shining moon and the hanging lights had been the spotlight of each participant.

They heard him take a deep breath before his fingers plucked the guitar excellently.

"He's good." Natsu mumbled.

"Yeah no kidding." Gray agreed.

Freed began to sing, his voice seemed to perfectly fit his appearance.

 **Now and then I think of when we were together**

 **Like when you said you felt so happy you could die**

 **Told myself that you were right for me**

 **But felt so lonely in your company**

 **But that was love and it's an ache I still remember.**

"He sings... Good." Gajeel mumbled.

Levy nodded, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah. That's why he's a fan favorite."

The crowd began to sway, lifting lanterns, or their cell phone screens to move with the music. Freed continued to play excellently. He didn't mess up any notes, his voice remained in key, and it appeared as though he belonged on the stage. Like he was one with his music.

 **But you didn't have to cut me off**

 **Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing**

 **And I don't even need your love**

 **But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough**

 **No you didn't have to stoop so low**

 **Have your friends collect your records and then change your number**

 **I guess that I don't need that though**

 **Now you're just somebody that I used to know**

"Now I see. He'll be our biggest competition." Jellal mumbled.

Levy shook her head. "Don't say that yet. You haven't heard Sabertooth play."

Natsu nodded, not taking his eyes off of Freed. "Yeah, I heard a group of girls talking about them. Apparently, they're amazing."

"Even so, we go on before them so even if they are amazing we'll be a tough act to follow." Jellal reassured.

"Kinda like how Freed is." Gray stated.

The green haired guitar player finished his song, and took a slight bow walking off the stage without saying a single word. The crowd cheered loudly, but they also began to cheer when four young men began to make their way out on stage. Natsu's drums were rolled out on stage before him, the microphone was set up, and the electric instruments were all plugged in and should be functional because of the AV Clubs help.

"Good luck you guys." Levy mumbled.

Jellal took a deep breath, before glancing over at Gajeel and nodding. Gajeel took the sign and easily began to open the song with Gray tagging in. Natsu entered the song, and soon, Jellal took the mic and began to sing his heart out.

 **The faded horizon is drifting further away**

 **The people all around, decay with suffocation**

 **Continuing to shape the world they clench to all their guns**

 **And surrounded by the hate, I find there's nowhere to run**

The crowd went wild. The girls mostly, cheering extremely loud for the four attractive musicians that had just appeared. They felt as though they were in their own world though. They could feel it. They sounded good. And the crowd was definitely responding well. Gray slowly looked up, his eyes scanning the crowd for his bluenette. He had practiced the song so much he knew the notes like the back of his hand. He didn't spot her, but he guessed it was simply because of the large crowd standing under the dim lights.

Natsu's heart was beating faster than his drum, but being with his friends made it easier. He watched as Jellal sang, as Gajeel strummed his guitar with ease, as Gray plucked on the strings of the bass.

He grinned widely as one thought crossed his mind. 'We're actually doing it.' He nodded his head, and began to sing along, even though he did not have a microphone.

 **Fighting to hold on tight,**

 **Yearning for a breath of life!**

 **I cannot tell if I'm alive, but**

 **Feels like I'm a suffocating diver!**

 **Staring with endless sight,**

 **Into a darkened night.**

 **Taking in one last breath I dive into the unknown.**

 **To the endlessness I go!**

The feeling of actually playing in front of a crowd, with three guys who he now called his closest friends. He recalled when he asked them to join him. How they all refused quickly but then again were just as quick to accept. To Jellal, this would be a moment he would always remember. Came what came, they were always a band. They would always be the founders of Etherion. But most importantly, they'd always be friends.

 **Fighting for one last breath, ooh yeah!**

 **If I could just come to realize the light at the end,**

 **I would never drown again.**

With a final word, strum, bang, and pluck, they all panted, a bit sweat dripping from their bodies. The crowd was going crazy, cheering and shouting how awesome they were. Jellal glanced at Gray, chuckling when many flashes of cameras went off. He rose his arm in the air, earning a loud cheer from the crowd.

"We're Etherion!" He announced. "Thank you all for coming out! Woo!"

The crowd clapped, whistled, and cheered as they got off the stage towards the back. Natsu laughed, holding his hand to his heart.

"I can't feel my arms," he chuckled.

Gajeel crossed his arms and sighed. "They liked us better."

Gray wiped the sweat from his forehead before nodding. "It's hard to believe we just did that."

"But we did!" Jellal threw his arms over Natsu and Gray. "And they liked us! They actually liked us!"

"Well that's cause we're Etherion." Natsu smirked.

"Fucking right." Gajeel added in. "Gihihi." They all high fived each other proudly.

...

"So? They're Etherion. They're actually pretty great. But, let's show them what a real performance is like." A blonde figure said smirking, strapping on his guitar and turned to his band mates. "Is our princess ready?"

A girl with short white hair walked up to his side. She wore a white dress with a feathery cloak which made her look like an angel. She took a deep breath.

"Yes. I am ready, Sting-sama."

A handsome young man with black hair and red eyes moved beside them. "Very well. Let's go."

The foursome walked out on stage with Etherion watching closely from their spot on the side of the stage. They spotted Freed as well, sitting on a stool, his arms crossed and eyes shut.

All of a sudden, the crowd began to cheer loudly once more. Probably the loudest they had all night. Gray heard a 'THEY'RE HERE!' Followed by loud high pitched screams.

Gajeel shut one eye. "Shit... You'd think they were professional or something."

"They're the closest thing to it." Levy said coming up to them. She congratulated them on their performance before turning her attention back to the stage. "That's Sabertooth. The pride of Vermilion High School."

Natsu narrowed his eyes leaning forwards. "That girl looks familiar."

Levy turned and looked at him. "Her name is Yukino Aguria. She has an older sister named Sorano who goes to our school."

Jellal nodded. "That's correct. Sorano was in my grade."

They stayed silent when Yukino reached the microphone stand. A slow beat began to play from Stings guitar. Yukino swayed slowly, earning gasps of awes from the crowd, then suddenly a hardcore yet pleasant beat began to play. The crowd went wild, and sting smirked, slowing it back down again after a few seconds.

 **Recorded butterflies**

 **In the twilight**

 **Sneak out the closet**

 **Memories**

 **So kind**

 **Their cruel to me**

 **Quietly stealing the magic**

 **From my view**

 **I'm awakening from this dream**

 **Alone**

To say they were impressed would be an understatement. Not only did she look like an angel, Yukino sounded like one as well. Her voice was so gentle and it still fit the beat of the music. Not to mention the musicians of the group. They were good, sounded good and looked good. No, they were great.

"The blonde one is Sting, and the dark haired boy is his brother, Rogue." Levy continued.

Examining them closely Natsu wondered why they looked familiar to him as well. Those two kind of reminded him of another pair, he simply couldn't put his finger on who. With a shake of his head, he asked. "Are they really brothers?"

"Not sure." Levy responded. "According to my research they grew up together." She looked at the bass player. "And that's Rufus. I didn't get much information about him. Only that he's extremely intelligent."

"They sound real good, and they've probably got an advantage because they've got a pretty girl in their band." Jellal noted. "It's safe to say we'll be in the top three."

Levy smiled at him. "Definitely. You guys sounded great, way better than the ones before Freed."

They looked back up when the beat got louder once more. Yukino continued to sing, her amazing voice moved the crowd. An instrumental followed afterwards, the sound heard was mainly the guitar played by Sting. Afterwards, Yukino grabbed the microphone once more.

 **Stay with me tonight**

 **The flowing stars glide through the darkness burning**

 **Stay with me tonight**

 **Accept the light and make me remember**

 **Hold me!**

The music played for a few seconds longer, until finally it ended. The crowd went wild shouting loudly, begging for more. Sting smirked, and glanced over at where Etherion stood. The four were taken a back a bit by the younger teenager, exchanging glances before looking back to the stage.

"Well... When we make it big, it seems we've found our rival band." Jellal said.

Gray smirked. "Don't forget this was only our first performance." He sighed, crossing his arms and thinking back to his girlfriend, wondering if she had showed up.

A woman with bright blonde hair came out, waving her arm in the air with an envelope in her arm. She giggled at the sound of the crowds cheering.

"Alright Magnolia! Here we go. It didn't take long for the judges to pick three top winners! Are you ready?!" The crowd cheered in response. "Okay! In third place! Freed Justine! In second place..." It went silent. The woman smiled and pulled the microphone back to her lips. "Etherion!"

The boys chuckled a bit, a feeling of relief rushing through their bodies. It wasn't first place, and they wouldn't be getting used to second place, but for a first time, it was actually pretty good. Levy cheered and hugged Gajeel's arm.

"Congrats you guys!"

They looked back and watched as Sabertooth was announced first place winners. They clapped their hands. They deserved it. They were quite the competitors.

From the back of the crowd a woman with scarlet hair smiled. She looked up at her partner with a nod. "Freed Justine is a very good musician, but his style isn't suited for Fiore Entertainment. As for Etherion and Sabertooth, we should follow them around more. They seem to have the thing we're looking for."

The taller man nodded, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Alright, we'll keep doing research, but we should probably get out of here before we're spotted."

Once again backstage, the Etherion members walked back to their bags, Gray pulled out his cellphone and rose an eyebrow. Lisanna had called him about 15 times since he had placed it away. He slid his finger across the screen, pulling the phone to his ear listening to a voicemail she had left him.

 _'Gray! Look_ _I don't know why you aren't picking up. Okay wait I do but listen! Okay.. um.. I don't know how to say this..._ ' Lisanna's voice was strange, she sounded like she was crying, or barely breathing. Whatever it was she was panicking.

Upon hearing her next words his heart stopped, eyes widened and his cellphone slipped out of his hand, hitting the hard ground. His screen had smashed into a million a pieces but he didn't care. His band mates looked back at him with concern, but the words Lisanna just said to him played over and over in his head.

 _'It's Juvia... She was in the car and.. There's been an accident.'_

* * *

 **Please** **review! :3 Please they make me happy!**

 **Songs used: Somebody I Used To Know by Gotye, Diver by NICO Touches The Wall, and Recorded Butterflies by Trapnest (Olivia Inspi Reira)**


	7. The Girl He Once Knew

**What I Live For**

"Breathe into me and make me real."

-Evanescence

 **Please R &R**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 _Thoughts_ /

 **A/N: I'm feeling a little iffy about this chapter but it was a fast update don't you think? :)**

 _Previously:_

 _Gray pulled out his cellphone and rose an eyebrow. Lisanna had called him about 15 times since he had placed it away. He slid his finger across the screen, pulling the phone to his ear listening to a voicemail she had left him._

 _'Gray! Look I don't know why you aren't picking up. Okay wait I do but listen! Okay.. um.. I don't know how to say this...' Lisanna's voice was strange, she sounded like she was crying, or barely breathing. Whatever it was she was panicking._

 _Upon hearing her next words his heart stopped, eyes widened and his cellphone slipped out of his hand, hitting the hard ground. His screen had smashed into a million a pieces but he didn't care. His band mates looked back at him with concern, but the words Lisanna just said to him played over and over in his head._

 _'It's Juvia... She was in the car and... There's been an accident.'_

 **VII. The Girl He Once Knew**

* * *

It was feeling that was all too familiar to him. The last time someone had mentioned an accident it was the one his parents had died in. There's was no way he could have lost his girlfriend the same way. No way in hell. He didn't even realize it when he arrived at the hospital. He heard his friends calling out after him, they had followed him all the way there too. He didn't bother talking to the women at the front desk when he arrived. He simply scanned the area until he spotted the short haired girl he was looking for.

"Lisanna!" Gray called out gaining her attention. The white haired girl stood up from her seat, looking towards him when he and his friend ran in. Gray panted, standing straight, while Natsu who was behind him had his hands on his knees attempting to catch his breath. "H-how is she?" Gray breathed out.

Jellal and Gajeel ran inside, and for some reason, Jellal had what appeared to be a red hand mark, from a slap, on his face.

The white haired girl inhaled air through her nose, she shut her eyes, tears threatening to fall from them. "She's... She's..." Gray believed he wasn't ready to hear her next words. He shut his eyes expecting the worst when Lisanna suddenly said, "she's okay."

Gray's gasped for air, stumbling back a bit only to be caught and pushed back up to his feet by Natsu. He felt a wave of relief pass by him and a small smile appear on his face. His breath was still a bit heavy as he panted to catch it, but everything was okay. Juvia was okay. He moved forwards, and wrapped his arms around Lisanna in a hug.

"Where is she? Can I see her?" He asked, his voice a bit shaky.

Lisanna nodded, pulling away and wiping her tears. "Yeah, she's in that room over there. Be careful okay, she wasn't hurt too badly since there was no need for surgery but she does have to take it easy."

He nodded and quickly made his way towards the room his girlfriend rested in. Lisanna sat back down, one leg crossed over the other, nibbling on her nails. Jellal, Natsu, and Gajeel took the three seats beside her. Natsu crossed his arms, Gajeel leaned back, and Jellal rubbed his cheek.

"So? What happened to you?" Natsu asked, gaining the blue haired mans attention.

Jellal turned slightly and glared at him. "You really don't recall what you did?"

Natsu's brows furrowed in confusion, he threw his hands up in defense returning the glare. "Hey man, I didn't touch you."

"A woman with red hair had a plate of cake in her hands and as you were chasing after Gray you bumped into her causing her to drop it." Jellal began to explain. "So, I stopped and apologized for you but instead of accepting it she-"

"Slapped the living shit out him." Gajeel added with a small chuckle.

Lisanna glanced over at them with her blue eyes a bit wide. These had to be Gray's band mates. Natsu resisted the urge to laugh. He bit on his lips, snickering a little and began to chuckle softly. Gajeel as well began to laugh a bit more loudly while Jellal rolled his eyes.

"Here we go..." He mumbled to himself, face palming.

Natsu and Gajeel bursted out into laughter, tears escaping the pink haired mans eyes while Gajeel's face turned red.

"You got slapped by a chick!" Natsu laughed, holding his side.

Gajeel's foot began to stomp on the ground. "I saw it too, he fell to the ground!"

They continued to laugh while Jellal lowered and shook his head. "Alright alright. How long is this gonna be funny?"

"Forever!" The boys shouted, while continuing to laugh.

Jellal groaned and stood up. "I'm gonna go look for some ice. Someone please tell Levy to bring the equipment back to my place."

Gajeel nodded. "Already did. She's coming by later with the van."

Lisanna stared at the boys curiously, raising one eyebrow before snapping her fingers. "I know. You guys are Natsu and Gajeel!"

They both glanced over at her, a confused look on their faces.

"We're famous already?" Gajeel asked.

Lisanna laughed softly, shaking her head. "I'm Lisanna Strauss. We went to high school together. Well only senior year so I guess it's understandable that you don't remember me."

Natsu scratched his cheek. "Well you do seem kind of familiar, but high school was a long time ago."

She smiled and looked down at her lap. "A long time ago... It really feels like it."

...

She was asleep when he found her. The doctor had advised him to let her rest. Her body was pretty weak at the moment. Her ankle had suffered a small fracture but it was nothing too serious. She had a few heavy bruises on her body, and a few scratches on it as well, but the important thing was that she would would be okay. He kept reminding himself that, that was the important thing. He didn't realize how much time was passing. He simply sat there, staring at her sleeping face. The rest of her body was under a white sheet.

 _'It's Juvia... She was in the car and... There's been an accident.'_

Those words played over and over again in his head. Even though she was right in front of him, in one piece, it was hard to believe she escaped a car accident with what doctors referred to as minor injuries. He stood up from his seat, walking towards her and lightly brushing the hair out of her face. He gently caressed her cheek, before bending down and placing a soft kiss on it. He pulled his chair forwards, keeping it right beside the bed. He grabbed her hand in his and rested his head on the cot, right in front of her stomach.

"Wake up soon..." He whispered, keeping his eyes shut.

A short moment passed and he glanced upwards when someone entered the room. He spotted Natsu, setting a small duffle bag on the floor while carrying a grocery bag in his arm. Gray rose an eyebrow, sitting up straight.

"What time is it?"

Natsu shrugged, tossing him a bag of chips and a bottle of Iced Tea. Gray caught it with ease but set it down. He didn't feel like eating right now.

"Probably about 1:30 in the morning. I brought your car here." Natsu said, tossing Gray his car keys before moving to sit on the other chair in the room. "Lisanna sent those clothes over for Juvia."

Gray nodded. "She got home okay?"

"Yeah, we stopped by a diner to get her something to eat then Jellal dropped her off at her brothers house. She was pretty shaken up but we calmed her down. Gajeel and Levy went to drop off the equipment. Jellal's crashing at my place tonight. They said they'd be back tomorrow morning if Juvia has to stay here again tomorrow." Natsu leaned back and looked at him. "You alright man?"

"I'm fine." Gray replied, turning back to his sleeping girlfriend. "They gave her sleeping pills so she could rest without feeling pain in her leg..." He sighed. "Thanks, for everything... Flame brain."

Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head, shutting his eyes. "Yeah yeah. Ice prick."

Gray chuckled a bit before looking back. "You know, I appreciate it, but you don't have to be here. Actually how'd you even get in the room? Wouldn't they have a rule or something against late night visitors?"

Natsu shrugged his shoulders. "Well my adoptive mom is working a shift here right now. She's a doctor. I told her about what happened so she'll be in here later to check on Juvia." Gray nodded in understanding. Natsu's mother being a doctor did seem like it would come in handy. "Besides there are two reasons I can't leave."

Gray rose an eyebrow. "What are they?"

"First of all," Natsu admitted. "You're my ride home."

The dark haired young man chuckled a bit, shaking his head. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, and the second reason?"

"You're my best friend, Gray." Natsu said, not looking to him. "You really do have ice for brains if you think you're ever gonna go through something like this alone ever again." He grabbed the remote control for the TV before throwing his legs over the arm rest of the chair. "Juvia's a part of you, which makes her a part of us. That's why we're friends. To be there for each other, whether it's on a stage, in a hospital, or in a jail cell."

The words Natsu had just told him made Gray feel a bit strange. He found it hard to believe, that in such a short amount of time he had made such great friends. All his life he never felt like he had real friends. He then met Juvia and felt happy for once in his life. But felt good to have guy friends. Ones he could joke around with, watch sports or drink with. Of course, they all had their individual flaws but that's what made them great. He smiled a bit, looking away.

"Yeah. You're right." He said quietly. "Let's try and stay out of a jail cell though."

Natsu smirked and nodded. Flipping through the channels, he suddenly jumped up and began to laugh.

"You'll never believe what happened to Jellal earlier!"

...

Her eyes opened slowly. She found herself in an extremely clean white room. She heard a strange beeping sound at first as she began to regain her consciousness. She had a massive headache, she felt a discomfort in her left leg. Bits and pieces of a memory came back to her. The sun had gone down. She was in a car with another person, or maybe a few more people while a heavy rain poured down over them. The car was traveling at a fast speed... But she didn't know why.

"Juvia... It's gonna be okay Juvia..." She made out from the sound of a muffled voice. Perhaps it was that person who was in the car with her.

She wasn't really sure what had happened, or what was happening. She sighed, shifting her position while trying not to move her leg. A crashing sound entered the forefront of her mind, but everything after that was simply a big blur.

"Juvia, hey." She was snapped back into reality. She looked up to see her boyfriend with a concerned look on his face.

"G-Gray... Sama?" She whispered softly.

He smiled down at her, placing his hands softly on her face. "It's okay. You're okay."

Her brows furrowed, and her lips formed a frown. "What... What happened?" She attempted to sit up but he stopped her before she could.

"You should take it for easy right now since you just woke up." Gray said, grabbing her hand in his. "You were caught in a car accident."

She looked down, nodding her head slowly. "Yes... But... What about the other people?"

Gray rose an eyebrow. "Baby, you were alone in the car and then some idiot who wasn't paying attention hit you."

She narrowed her eyes while shaking her head. "N-no... There were more people in the car... And the rain and..." She lifted her arm from out under the covers placing her hand on her forehead. She remembered an accident, but the memory she was having about simply didn't make sense.

Gray took a seat beside her, "Juvia... There wasn't anyone in the car with you." He ran his fingers through her hair in attempts to relax her. "You hit your head so you might not remember everything clearly."

She nodded. She felt a bit dizzy. Maybe he was right. No. He was definitely right. This memory she was having was probably an effect of hitting her head.

"How long have you been here?" She asked him.

Gray sighed. "A couple hours. Lisanna was here earlier, right after the accident and my friends too but they took her home."

"Was she okay?" Juvia asked in concern.

Gray nodded rubbing her hand with his thumb. "Yeah she's fine."

Juvia sighed and looked around. She noticed the TV was on which was lighting up the room. She tightened her grip on Gray's hand.

"Juvia doesn't like hospitals..."

His eyes softened and he moved forwards. He pressed his forehead against hers gently.

"It's okay... You're okay." He kissed her nose. "I guess we're all kind of shaken up because of this."

She heard someone else walk into the room and looked up to spot Natsu who smiled at her.

"You're finally awake." He said, walking towards her. "You feeling okay?"

"Juvia is... alright." She turned to her boyfriend and sighed. "You're performance... Forgive Juvia."

He grabbed her hand again and kissed it before moving closer to her. "Forget about that. I'm just happy you're okay."

Natsu crossed his arms. "Yeah it's like a miracle you came out with minor injuries. Car crashes are really dangerous."

"Yeah..." Gray agreed, thinking back to his parents. He looked down at his girlfriend. "Do you need anything?"

"Something to drink would be nice." She said softly. Gray turned and grabbed the bottle of Iced Tea Natsu had brought him earlier. He had already taken a sip of it but she didn't mind. Juvia sat up slowly, with the boys warning her to be careful because of her leg. Gray handed the plastic bottle watching as she took a small drink and handed it back to him. She then smiled looked to them. "So. How was the competition?"

Natsu flashed her a grin, running his hand through his pink hair. "We came in second place; considering the fact that it was our first performance and there was some pretty tough competition we did pretty good."

Juvia smiled, "that's amazing."

"The amazing thing was that ice princess didn't piss his pants while we were on stage." Natsu said with a laugh.

Gray glared at him while Juvia giggled.

"Hey screw you dude. I was fine. You were the one who was basically crying up there."

She laughed a bit more, causing both young men to smile. Gray leaned forwards and softly captured her lips, thanking every powerful force in the universe for making sure the girl he loved would be okay in the end.

...

Jellal opened his eyes upon hearing a soft knock on the front door. He yawned, stretching his arms up over his head before he looked at his surroundings. He had crashed on Natsu and Gajeel's couch, which was surprisingly comfortable. He stood up, and walked towards the door to spot a young girl with long blue hair. She held a small blue cat in her arms and had a bag beside her. She rose an eyebrow before taking a step back.

"You're not Natsu-niisan." She said quickly, holding the cat close to her.

Jellal stared at the little girl for a moment before gasping. "You're Wendy. Natsu's little sister right?"

Wendy furrowed her brows. "Who are you?"

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "My name is Jellal Fernandes, I'm a good friend of your big brother."

She nodded slowly. "Jellal-san. Where's Natsu-niisan?" She asked curiously.

The blue haired man rubbed the back of his head. His hair was messy because he had just woken up, and his cheek still had a bit of a red mark on it. He bent down to her level.

"Well you see, one of our friends was in an accident yesterday and he's at the hospital right now with them. He should be back soon though."

Wendy tilted her head to the side. "The hospital? Our adoptive mother works at the hospital."

Jellal nodded. "It's cold outside, why don't you come in. It is your brothers house."

She was a bit reluctant, until she looked passed Jellal and spotted a familiar face.

"Gajeel-niisan!" She cheered happily running passed the blue haired man into the apartment.

Gajeel rose an eyebrow and turned around before grinning. "Gihi. Look at what we've got here. Little Wendy. What are ya doing here brat?" He asked patting her head.

She giggled a bit shutting an eye. "I'm not a brat." She held up the kitty cat in front of Gajeel. "This cat is for Natsu-niisan. His name is Happy."

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah. We heard about that." He walked into the kitchen with her following closely behind.

"So is Jellal-san living with you and Natsu-niisan too?" She asked, setting the cat down gently.

Gajeel shook his head. "Nah he just crashed here. It's been a crazy week." He grabbed two cereal bowls and set one down for her. "Frosted or plain?" He asked the twelve year old grabbing the two boxes of cereal from the cupboard.

"Hm... Frosted." She replied as he poured some into her yellow bowl.

He poured some milk on her cereal before sending her off to the small table. Levy entered the kitchen smirking at him.

"You're a big softie when it comes to Wendy." She teased, earning a grunt from him.

Gajeel didn't look back at her, he simply poured milk into his own bowl, as he thought back to his own sister. Many things had been reminding him of her lately. First he thought he saw her when he first went to Gray's apartment, then he hears news of a car crash, which is the way he lost her, and third, Natsu's little sister showed up, reminding him that his is out there somewhere. "It ain't like that." He replied. "She just reminds me of someone I used to know..." His voice trailed off, which was unusual for him.

Levy furrowed her brows, looking at him in concern. "Hey, are you okay?"

He sighed. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You can always talk to me if something is bothering you... You know that right?"

She took a step closer to him but he shook his head. "You wouldn't get it, but I already told you I'm fine."

She opened her mouth to respond but stopped when Jellal entered the kitchen. He had just hung up the phone and looked to his cousin and bandmate.

"Gray and Natsu just left the hospital. They're on their way here." He told them, shoving his phone in his pocket.

Levy rose an eyebrow. "What about his girlfriend? How is she?"

"Well she's got some bruises from the accident but nothing too serious. They're just dropping off Natsu and she really wants to see the cat." Jellal explained.

Levy nodded. "I'm really glad she's okay, but I wonder what happened to the idiot that crashed into her."

Jellal sighed. "Lisanna said that Juvia was parked and the car that hit her was found abandoned. I'm not sure if they'll catch the person or not." He moved to the fridge and grabbed a water bottle. "In any case for now, let's just be glad that Juvia is okay."

Gajeel's eyes widened and he dropped his bowl. Levy and Jellal looked back at him with shock, before looking down at the shattered bowl and mess of cereal on the kitchen floor.

"What the hell was that, Gajeel?" Levy exclaimed, looking at him with concern.

He ignored her and looked at Jellal. "What... What is Gray's girlfriend's name?"

"Juvia. Juvia Lockser. Why?" Jellal replied.

Gajeel blinked a few times, and he turned his back to them running his fingers through his hair. _'There's no way. No fucking way. None.'_ He thought to himself.

He heard the front door open and the voices of Gray and Natsu.

"We're here!" Natsu called out. He looked to Wendy and grinned. "Sup little sis?!"

She jumped up and hugged him tightly. "Natsu-niisan! It's been a while! I've missed you."

He laughed a bit, rubbing the top of her head. "Me too kiddo." He looked to the couple behind him. "This is my little sister, Wendy. Wendy, that's Juvia and Ice-princess."

The girls giggled while _'Ice Princess'_ simply rolled his eyes.

Gray turned to Juvia, giving her a look of concern. "I think I should take you home."

She smiled at him. "Juvia just wants to see the little kitty, that's all."

He wrapped his arm around her waist. "Alright but sit down, you shouldn't be putting too much weight on your leg."

"Juvia knows you're worried and only thinking about what's best for her right now but it's okay darling. It doesn't hurt and the doctor cleared Juvia to leave the hospital."

He lifted her up bridal style and walked over to sit her on the couch. "Just sit, okay?"

She smiled as he took a seat next to her. She wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I feel like the most irresponsible boyfriend ever right now. I should have just taken you home." Gray mumbled, pressing a kiss on her forehead.

"Juvia loves you." She said, smiling.

He smiled back and kissed her head again. "I love you too."

"Juvia. I'm glad to see you're okay." Jellal opened, walking towards her with Levy at his side.

Juvia smiled at the girl who returned it.

"Hi, my names Levy McGarden. It's good to meet you and great to see that you're okay."

"Yes. It's good to meet you too. Thank you." Juvia replied.

Natsu came towards them with the small blue cat in his arms.

"Here he is. This his Happy."

"Why is he blue?" Gray asked curiously. Jellal, Levy, Wendy and Juvia all turned to look at him. He chuckled and raised an arm in the air. "N-not that there's anything wrong with that."

Juvia smiled and lightly rubbed the cat on the head. "What a cute little guy."

Gajeel heard all his friends in the living room, talking about his roommates cat, but all he had in mind was the name. Juvia Lockser. There was no way it could have been the Juvia he knew and grew up with. He just didn't think it was possible. He swallowed a lump in his throat and slowly began to move forwards. It had been about three, four years since he last saw her. He shuffled his feet, walking forwards gaining everyone's attention. His eyes widened when he spotted her, seated on the couch next to his bandmate. There was no doubt. That was definitely the girl he used to know. Her appearance had changed a bit, she no longer wore her hair in the tight curls at the end, it flowed loosely down her back in waves. She no longer had that expressionless face. She was smiling, she looked cheerful, and way happier than she ever did while they were growing up.

Juvia turned her head to look up at him. She offered him a friendly smile. "You must be Gajeel... Juvia does not believe we've met. It's good to finally meet you."

He grit his teeth behind his closed lips, and nodded slowly. "R-right." He stuttered, hoping nobody seemed to catch it. Levy looked over at him with concern while the others began to make small talk. He kept his eyes on the girl and Levy couldn't make out why as she took brief glances at him. The only person who would know why is Gajeel himself.

The tall young man couldn't help but to keep staring at her. Years ago, he lost his younger sister in a car accident. She didn't die but what happened made him almost feel like she did. While they were in the hospital, she ran away with the little knowledge she knew about herself. She had suffered amnesia and now he could confirm she had not regained her past memory. His sister had made her way back into his life but she didn't even know it. There she was, in a serious relationship with his bandmate, whose ass he'd probably kick later like any protective older brother would.

There she was, sitting his living room.

His little sister, _Juvia_ _Lockser._

* * *

 **Okay, might of been a bit confusing but if your confused don't be afraid to ask about it. Anyway, most of the reviews were pretty much the same, a lot of people weren't too happy with my cliffhanger but I hope this chapter made up for it :D Thank you for reviewing, for favoriting and following. I really do appreciate and take the time to read them. I'll respond to reviews again next chapter so please leave your opinion. Oh and btw, I'm a HUGE Gruvia shipper so that's the main focus and reason for this story but don't worry my dear NaLu and Jerza fans, that's coming soon!**

 **Please review and tune in next time!**


	8. Distant Memories

**What I Live For**

"Let's be alone together. We could stay young forever."

-Fall Out Boy

 **Please R &R**

gruvia-raid- Well, I'm glad someone caught that. Sometimes when I'm writing I feel like people might not tie things together but you did which makes me happy! Thank you for reviewing and for your compliments :D

LateNightShips- :( Yes, it is. But it adds drama to the story, which is something everyone loves in stories. Thank you for reviewing.

bobsey- I love writing all the Gruvia moments! :D Glad you liked it, thank you for the review!

SugarPie- Thanks! I'll definitely check them out! Glad you liked it.

Blaxis- Thanks!

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 _Thoughts_ / _**Flashbacks**_

 _Previously:_

 _The tall young man couldn't help but to keep staring at her. Years ago, he lost his younger sister in a car accident. She didn't die but what happened made him almost feel like she did. While they were in the hospital, she ran away with the little knowledge she knew about herself. She had suffered amnesia and now he could confirm she had not regained her past memory. His sister had made her way back into his life but she didn't even know it. There she was, in a serious relationship with his bandmate, whose ass he'd probably kick later like any protective older brother would._

 _There she was, sitting his living room._

 _His little sister, Juvia Lockser._

 **VIII. Distant Memories**

* * *

"Merry Christmas!" Lisanna chirped happily stepping into Gray and Juvia's apartment. In her hands she had two, perfectly wrapped, small boxes and held them out in front of her. "This is for Gray, and this is for you Juvia."

Juvia took the small box in her hand and rose an eyebrow. "Um. Thank you but... it isn't Christmas yet."

Gray sighed tiredly, "and it's only seven a.m."

Lisanna stepped further into the home as Juvia shut the door. The bluenette looked back at her best friend who took a seat on the couch. She removed her purple winter coat which revealed her long sleeved black sweater which she wore with red skinny jeans, and brown ankle boots.

"I know that." Lisanna responded. "But I won't actually be here for Christmas remember? I'm going to see my sister in the capital. I have to catch the train at 8:30 so I came to give you my present."

Juvia leaned back into Gray who was seated behind her. His arms instinctively wrapped around her. They were both still in their pajamas. "You really didn't have to..." He said, holding his box in his hand.

"Of course I did." She looked away from them. "I've never really had people to give presents to... I mean I have my sister and my brother but you guys are like my family too."

Juvia smiled and grabbed her best friends hands in her own. "Juvia feels the same way."

Gray stood up and looked at the girls. "I guess I'd better go get yours then."

They watched him walk off into the hall and into the bedroom where they had put the presents they had already bought. Once he was out of sight Lisanna jumped and began to rummage through her large purse.

"Okay it's time to give you Gray's real present." She said quickly, pulling out a pink gift bag.

Juvia rose a confused eyebrow when she spotted the twinkle in the blonde's eye. "Real present?" She repeated.

Lisanna nodded, wiggling her eyebrows as she pulled out a lacy, black thong from the bag. Juvia felt blood rush to her face before pushing the small thread away.

"What is that?!" She squealed, still blushing.

"Oh come on. They go perfectly with these..." She pulled out some pasties making Juvia cover her face.

"Lisanna!"

The blonde chuckled, looking through the bag some more. "There's some more in here. Red, blue, Christmas colors..."

Juvia shook her head and laughed a bit, pushing the bag towards Lisanna. "You're so weird! Juvia doesn't need that..."

"Oh c'mon. Don be such a prude. He'll love it!"

"Juvia doesn't need that..."

Lisanna pouted and pushed the bag towards Juvia who only pushed it back towards her. They continued to push the bag back and forth.

"Take it!"

"Hold on a second!"

"Juvia..."

"Lisanna it's embarrassing."

"You'll love it."

"Why are we having this conversation!?"

"Just take it!"

"No!"

They both gasped when they heard Gray approaching. Juvia grabbed the bag and hid it behind the couch cushion. She straightened up and looked back at her boyfriend who reappeared with a large box in his hand.

"Alright, here we go. Merry Christmas I guess." Gray said, handing the bag to Lisanna.

Her big blue eyes twinkled again before she checked her watch. "Oh man. I have to go."

She wrapped her arms around Juvia in a hug, leaning her mouth towards her ear. "You'll thank me later." She whispered, laughing a bit.

Juvia sighed, hugging her back before Lisanna pulled on her coat and left the couple. Gray turned to look at the time on the computer screen.

"So it's 7:42. Wanna get back to sleep?"

She nodded and grabbed his hand as he led them back to their bedroom.

...

Jellal sat at a table in the cafe of Magnolia college, sipping on a large cup of tea with a few books scattered in front of him. He sighed, setting the mug down before plugging in his headphones and reading the one of books. The entire student body seemed to be stressing out. It was exam week, and also the final week of the fall semester. Jellal was never one to worry about exams. He knew he was intelligent, and didn't care, nor feel the need to stress out or study much for exams. These last two exams would be easy for him, seeing as he only had three classes that semester. Soon, he wouldn't have to worry about school and could focus on the band until the middle of January.

A few minutes passed. He was nodding his head to the music as he read the book when someone suddenly joined him at the table. He looked up to see Natsu with a few books of his own, and with a tired look on his face. He set his extra large cup off coffee down before letting his face fall against the surface of the table.

"I can't wait for this week to finally be over. It's killing me. My brain can't take anymore thinking." Natsu ranted in a panicked voice. He shook his head, shutting his eyes as Jellal removed his headphones, setting them on the table while smirking at his friend.

"Well, exams go by faster than you think. Before you know it, we'll be on holiday break, and we won't have to come back till mid January." He picked up his mug and took another sip of his hot, relaxing drink. "Who knows, we might even be discovered by then."

Natsu rose his head up but continued to rest his head on his hand. He pouted, setting a book in front of him, keeping his eyes on it. "You know, I have been meaning to ask you something. So we already performed and came in second place at a competition, what's next?"

Jellal sighed, "we search for places to play. Parties, clubs, all that stuff." He lifted a finger in the air, looking to the ceiling. "They're everywhere and Magnolia has festivals all the time. We just gotta keep our eyes open for opportunities and keep working on our music."

"You got this pretty planned out huh?" Natsu asked, sipping his coffee while opening his textbook.

Jellal nodded. "I wouldn't have asked you guys to join without a plan. I've already started on a new song. Check it out."

He slid his notebook towards Natsu who picked it up and examined it with interest. He read a few words before scratching the back of his head.

"Well I like it... But maybe you should have Gray look over it." Natsu slid the notebook back to him. "I hate to say it but that ice prick knows how to arrange the lyrics perfectly."

Jellal lifted his notebook back up and sighed. A few minutes passed. They were making small talk, when suddenly both looked up and to the side when a group of girls walked passed them giggling. Some of them waved flirtatiously while others winked or did a 'call me' sign while mouthing the words. Jellal chuckled a bit, rubbing the back of his head, while Natsu smiled.

"We're pretty popular around here now, aren't we?"

Natsu turned and began digging through his backpack for a pencil when suddenly he pulled out a bunch of colorful sticky notes. They all had phone numbers and small notes written on them. The pink haired man sighed, setting down the paper on the table.

"Yeah I've been getting lots of these notes. It kind of feels like high school. In my binder, on my desk, tossed at me in class." Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head. "I guess it's true that the drummer is the most popular member of the band."

Jellal rolled his eyes with a smirk, looking over when another group of girls took seats at a table near them and giggled as they examined and waved at them. Jellal returned the wave, but not in the flirtatious manner they were waving at him. Natsu rubbed the back of his head, laughing a bit when suddenly Gajeel walked towards them, pulling up a chair blocking their view of the girls.

"So? Ya girls done studying?" He asked sarcastically seeing all the books stacked in front of them.

Natsu glared at him. "I don't know why you aren't. You do know that it's exam week right screw brains?"

Gajeel grinned, "I'm already finished. Just took my last exam and I passed with flying colors."

Natsu's eyes widened. "What?!" He exclaimed.

"You seem certain." Jellal commented, he unfolded his crossed arms. "How did you prepare for it?"

Gajeel rolled his eyes, resting his arm on the table. "The shrimp helped me cram last night. She was nagging me about needing to pass or something. I wasn't really listening."

Jellal chuckled while Natsu glared at him. The pink haired man looked back at his textbook reading over a chapter he had probably already read about three times. Exams were the worst. Absolutely the worst.

"Have you guys seen Gray today?" Jellal asked, searching the cafeteria for their fourth band mate.

"Didn't he finish his exams already?" Natsu asked, he turned to Gajeel who quickly looked away from him.

"How the hell should I know?" Gajeel responded, in an annoyed voice.

Jellal scratched his chin. "It's been a few days since the accident, hasn't it? I've called him but he hasn't talked much."

Natsu nodded, "yeah but it ain't nothing to worry about. My mom took care of Juvia back at the hospital and said she would be fine. She just has to take it easy for a while. No heels you know? She's pretty lucky she didn't suffer much damage. Some car accidents are deadly." Gajeel cringed without his friends noticing. Natsu stood up and slid out of his seat. "I need brain food... And by that I mean fries." He walked away in search of food leaving Gajeel and Jellal behind.

Jellal pulled out his cellphone. "In gonna check in on them."

Gajeel became a bit stiff at the mention of Gray's name. When he thought of Gray, he thought of Juvia. Ever since he saw her in his home, and was able to confirm that she was in fact the girl he grew up with, he had been debating on whether to tell her or not. He sat in silence, thinking back to her and how he had planned to come forwards.

 _ **"Hey... So... I know ya don't know me. But I know you. We kinda grew up in the same house until the summer before my Junior year. Remember, after Jose died?... Of course you don't." Gajeel rubbed the back of his head, glancing off to the side. "You're my sister, Juvia. And um... I guess I'm sorry about crashing the car that one time and causing ya to lose your memory then freak out and run away. I didn't mean for that to happen. I was trying to help ya by getting you away from those freaks who were obsessed with you. But... Now that I'm here... I can help ya remember... If ya want." He looked to the couch where Natsu's blue cat, Happy, sat staring up at him with its large eyes. Gajeel rose an eyebrow, crossing his arms while shaking his head. "Well? Ain't ya gonna say somethin?! I said I'll help ya fucking remember!"**_

 _ **Happy meowed then licked his paw before jumping off of the couch and walking away from him. Gajeel sighed, moving to take a seat on the recliner and burying his face in his hands, resting his elbows on his knees. It had been a week. Exactly one week since his little sister had come back into his life, and he simply did not know what to do. Back when** **they were growing up she wasn't the friendliest girl, then again she didn't have much people besides him that she cared about. She was emotionless, and a bit weird. She always said she was followed the rain. She spent all of her free time making Teru teru bōzu dolls instead of going out and making real friends to play with. Sometimes, when they were kids he'd catch her crying while making the strange tissue men. He also recalled all those times he defended her from bullies at school. At first he was distant, but he soon warmed up to the blue haired girl and her strange ways. It was hard on him when he woke up at the hospital and there was no sign of her around. But now, here she was. Living in Magnolia, working as an assistant in a large office, while also living with a man he now called his best friend.**_

 ** _"Maybe I should tell them both... At the same time... Or just not tell them at all." He groaned and leaned back in the seat, crossing his arms as he watched Natsu's cat play with a ball of yarn. "What the fuck am I supposed to do? I mean. It ain't like she needs to know... She seems happy with that Ice bastard" He mumbled to himself, his eyes looking out towards the window when he began to hear_ _the sound of raindrops hitting the window. He sighed, shutting eyes as he mentally battled against himself for a decision._**

He was knocked out of his thoughts when a familiar voice approached the table. He looked up to see Levy. She had her usual smile on her face, and her aura was just as relaxed just as Jellal's was. He found it a bit strange that the two were so calm on exam week, but he didn't question it. If anyone knew how smart Levy was it was certainly Gajeel Redfox. She took the seat beside him, setting her large purse on the table.

"Damn shorty, that thing is bigger than you." Gajeel teased, earning a puff of her cheeks. She rolled her eyes pushing his shoulder a bit causing him to chuckle.

"Anyways..." She began. "You guys are gonna love me."

"More so than we already do?" Jellal responded, a smile settling on his features. He picked up his mug in his hands and took another sip of the tea. "How is that possible?"

Gajeel and Jellal watched as Levy pulled out a CD case. On the cover of it was the same 'E' which had been designed on their van. Levy handed the case to Gajeel and smirked.

"What's this?" The tall man asked, examining the box closely.

Levy giggled, "it's you guys. Droy used the recordings from the battle of the bands competition and burned some copies onto CD's or flash drives. A lot of people have been asking to buy it."

"You're kidding?!" Jellal exclaimed, leaving forwards looking at his cousin with interest.

She grinned and shook her head no. "I'm not. Etherion blew away the crowd and people have begging for them. Jet and Droy have almost fifty demands for them on _Twitter_ and they just started distributing them last night." Gajeel chuckled a bit while Jellal ran a hand through his hair with a smile on his face. "I figured that maybe you let us sell them, and thirty percent of the profits go to my club, and the rest goes to you guys."

Gajeel turned to Jellal who nodded. "Sounds good to me!"

Levy grinned quickly and pulled out a yellow envelope slapping it down on the table. "I'm sure you guys don't mind that we've already sold about 20 copies, 15 bucks a pop. Looks like you guys will have money for Christmas shopping this year."

"This is fucking crazy." Gajeel commented, holding the envelope in his hand. "Already making money off of one song?"

When he heard giggles from the table behind them, he glanced over. His eyes widened a bit when the girls waved flirtatiously at him and he turned back to look at Jellal.

"You sure it's our music they like?" Gajeel muttered.

Levy giggled. "It always helps when musicians have good looks."

Natsu returned to the table with a greasy brown paper bag full of French fries. He stuffed about four in his mouth before taking a seat beside Jellal.

"So? What did I miss?" He asked, with his mouth full.

Gajeel winced in disgust before looking to Levy. "Yeah. That's attractive alright." He stated sarcastically.

Levy immediately told Natsu about the CD's, and his reaction was just like Jellal's.

"Im too hyped to study now." Natsu said, packing up his books. "We've gotta tell Gray about this."

Jellal smirked. "Are you suggesting we drop by his home unannounced?"

Natsu stood up. "We'll get him some chocolates and flowers or something. The stripper needs to know! Let's go!"

Levy perked up a bit, looking between the two men. "Can I tag along? I'd like to see how Juvia's doing." She suddenly gasped when she was pulled out of the seat by Gajeel.

"Don't be silly, shrimp we gotta study."

He walked away quickly not allowing Levy to say another word.

Jellal glanced at Natsu scratching the back of his head. "Do you have any idea what that was all about?"

Natsu crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side. "None, he's been acting pretty weird since we played at battle of the bands."

"Is that so?" Jellal asked.

Natsu nodded. "I caught him talking to Happy a few times like he could actually understand him." The pink haired man interlaced his fingers behind his head. "Metal face doesn't get that the only person my little, blue buddy can understand is me." He slipped on his coat as Jellal did the same.

"Right..." The bluenette said, walking out of the building with Natsu following.

Levy gave Gajeel a confused look when they stepped outside of the building. "What? Gajeel what are you doing!? We spent all of last night studying!?" He continued to drag her not saying a single word. Her brows furrowed in worry. "Hey are you-"

"No. It's fine!" He snapped, not allowing her to even finish her question. "Stop asking me that fucking question. It's annoying."

Her eyes widened a bit. He definitely wasn't fine, but she decided not to question him anymore. She looked at her extended arm in front of her. Her wrist had been trapped by his large hand. She let out a breath, and ran up to his side, somehow managing to slip her hand into his. Her heart jumped a bit when he didn't pull away. Instead he tightened the grip pulling her towards him as they walked through the cold December air.

"Are we really gonna go study more?" She asked, looking up at him. "Can we do something else?"

He met her glance, stuffing his free hand in his coat pocket. "I don't care."

She looked at the ground, examining each crack carefully. Gajeel had been acting weird lately, and she didn't know why. It was beginning to drive her a bit crazy that he wouldn't talk to her. It was no secret she cared a lot about the guitarist. He seemed oblivious to her feelings though. That, or he simply ignored them. It all started on that day he met Juvia. What effect could she have had on Gajeel? She wanted to ask, but she knew, even if she did, he wouldn't have answered her.

"If you don't care..." She started to speak up, "can we go to the mall? I'd like to finish up my Christmas shopping before all of Magnolia starts invading the mall."

He grunted in response but nodded. She smiled a bit, moving closer to him as they walked away. Her light brown eyes were drawn to the sky above her. Above everyone. She felt cold, light snowflakes starting to fall from the sky.

...

Jellal and Natsu appeared at Gray's front door just as the couple was heading out. They decided to tag along to the trip to the mall for some last minute Christmas shopping. Juvia insisted that since they have more friends to be with this year, they needed to get them presents, even though she knew Christmas was about more than just presents. The foursome walked into the mall by the entrance of the food court, the first thing their eight combined eyes landed on was the giant tree in the middle of the food court. They were all bundled up in winter overcoats. Gray wore a dark blue one, Jellal a dark green coat with fur lining the hood, and Natsu and Juvia both wore black coats.

"You know it's been a while since I've been here." Gray noted, looking around the mall, he kept one hand stuffed in his coat pocket.

Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head, examining all the lights and decorations that had been placed. "Yeah I forgot how big this place is."

"The decorations look very pretty." Juvia noted, holding onto Gray's free hand while keeping her eyes on the colorful lights. "Maybe we should hang some up at our house?"

Gray sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know, it's kind of late to put them up and getting them down is such a hassle..."

Jellal looked over at the couple. He stood beside Juvia as they walked deeper into the mall. "Do you two ever do anything special on Christmas?"

"Just been spending it at home for the past three years. What about you guys?" Gray asked.

Natsu began to remove his gloves, hat and opened his coat. His scarf remained wrapped securely around his neck. "Nothing special. My adoptive parents are leaving town to visit some relatives but Wendy doesn't want to go so she's spending Christmas with me."

Juvia smiled. "That's nice, spending Christmas with your little sister."

"Usually I'd travel home with Levy for Christmas but since our grandfather moved away I guess we're stuck at school." Jellal explained. "Maybe we'll go to the movies this year."

"You should come to our place." Gray suggested, nonchalantly. He turned to Juvia who nodded with a large smile.

"Yes! You too Natsu-san. Bring Wendy-chan and Levy-san and Gajeel-kun too." Her smile faded quickly into a confused one. Did she just say... _Gajeel-kun_? She placed a hand over her mouth but she seemed to be the only one who had caught what she said. It was strange, but saying Gajeel-kun felt strangely familiar. She zoned back into the conversation when Gray let go of her hand. She looked up at him in surprise.

He smile softly making her heart jump. He was so handsome that sometimes she couldn't believe he was all hers. "I need to check something out alright. It's a surprise so don't ask." He looked back to Natsu and Jellal. "Let's meet up later."

She nodded. "Yeah."

Gray began to walk off and Natsu followed behind him. "Hang on I'm coming with you." The drummer announced.

Jellal looked at Juvia and shrugged shoving his hands deep into his pockets, "shall we?"

She smiled with a nod and the two walked off to explore the stores in the mall.

...

"A ring? You're really gonna do it huh?" Natsu asked, watching Gray looking at a selection of engagement rings.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Why did you come again?"

"As your best man it's my job to make sure things go smoothly. You can't have a wedding if she says no cause you got the wrong ring."

Gray growled, glaring at the pink haired man. "She won't say no flame breath, and I haven't even been thinking about a wedding yet. I just want Juvia to know I'm serious about spending my life with her."

"Why wait?" Natsu replied. "I mean you two already live together, what difference will it make if you're married?"

Gray kept looking over the rings. A lot of them were very beautiful but they just weren't right for Juvia. He kept looking over the display in hopes of finding the perfect one.

"I just want to wait until I'm done with school. She understands."

"Yeah yeah, just hurry up and chose ice princess."

Gray rolled his eyes while continuing to browse the display. He suddenly spotted it, a beautiful two stone ring. The diamond was a sapphire color which reminded him of his girlfriend. He felt his heart beat faster, before looking to the person behind the counter and asking for details.

"Ah yes, _The Ever Us._ It's very beautiful isn't it? One diamond for your best friend, one diamond for your true love, in one ring that your partner will cherish forever."

Natsu let out a low whistle upon spotting the lovely ring.

Gray pushed him away before scratching his chin. "Um sir." Gray began. "Could you hold out that ring and ask me to marry you?"

The worker rose an eyebrow but cleared his throat and extended his arm. "Will you marry me?" He said in a monotone.

Gray nodded. "Yup. That's it that's the one."

Natsu gave an impressed look. "If she says no can I have it?"

"What the hell do you need an engagement ring for?" Gray asked, ignoring the part about him once again bringing up that Juvia would say no. He knew she wouldn't say no. She loves him and he loves her. With that ring, he'd prove it.

"Nothing. It's just nice to look at."

Gray smirked, holding the ring in his fingers. "It's perfect. The only ring for her."

...

"Jellal? Juvia?" The two blunettes turned to see another fellow bluenette, Levy McGarden holding shopping bags in her arms. "Hey what are you guys doing here?" She asked, happy to see them.

Juvia smiled, holding up her own bags. "Last minute shopping."

Jellal shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to get away from the studying."

Levy laughed. "Yeah I know that feeling."

"Juvia is happy to see you, Levy-san."

The short girl laughed a bit more. "No need to be so formal, just Levy is fine."

Juvia nodded. "Okay then. Anyway, Gray-sama and Juvia decided to have everyone over for Christmas! Would you like to come?"

Levy looked to Jellal. "Sounds like fun."

"I'm sure that I can rely on you to drag Gajeel along?" Jellal commented.

"Come along to what?"

The three looked over Jellal's shoulder upon hearing a voice. More specifically Gajeel's voice. His eyes widened slight when he spotted Juvia but he quickly regained his cool.

"Gray and Juvia have decided to invite friends over for Christmas. You should come."

Juvia looked at the taller man with a friendly smile. "Yes. The more the merrier."

Gajeel grunted, acting disinterested. He looked to the side with a hand resting through his long hair. "I'll see." He then rose an eyebrow and looked back at Jellal. "Hey! Where's Gray and Salamander?"

"Not sure, they ran off as soon as we got here."

Levy checked the time on her watch. "It's lunch time, you guys want to grab a bite to eat?"

Jellal nodded. Juvia looked at the two for a moment.

"Juvia will catch up. Juvia just wants to buy a few more things to decorate."

"I'll tag along if you'd like." Jellal offered.

She smiled and shook her head. "It's okay it'll only take a few minutes."

She walked off quickly leaving behind Levy and Jellal. The short bluenette looked around for Gajeel but rose an eyebrow when she didn't spot him.

"What? Where did he go?"

Jellal looked around as well. "Not sure. I wasn't aware he even walked away."

Juvia was walking towards a store when suddenly she felt someone following her. She stopped and looked back spotting Gajeel standing right behind her. She gave him a smile, which he did not return.

"Let me ask you something." He said gruffly, ignoring the many people waking passed them.

Juvia looked up at him with confusion. "What is it?"

"That ice loving bastard, Gray... Does he... Make you happy?"

Juvia smiled, blushing a bit as she thought back to her boyfriend. "Yes. He makes Juvia very happy."

 _'She_ _still talks weird...'_ Gajeel said in his mind. _'But that face never changes.'_ He nodded while turning to walk away.

"Why do you ask?" She questioned.

Gajeel shook his head. "Just curious." He walked away from her leaving her a bit confused. _'I can't tell her. She's happy now. She doesn't need to know...'_

...

After a few minutes the group had all gotten together again. They sat at a long table in the food court, Levy and Juvia discussing girl things while the boys pigged out or threw food and argued with each other. As they were enjoying their time they all looked up when a young man with lots of makeup, accompanied by a pretty, young woman with white hair came towards them.

"Etherion? Am I correct?" The man opened. In his hand he had a flier but they couldn't make out what was on it just yet.

Jellal nodded. "Yes we are."

A smirk appeared on the Goth's face, as he laid the red flier down on the table. "We saw your debut performance at the battle of the bands last week. I must say, you really did impress many people."

"Well we didn't practice for nothing." Gray responded, crossing his arms.

"If it wasn't for my little sisters band you boys would have won. My name is Sorano, this is Macbeth, or Midnight as he prefers." The girl said.

Gajeel picked up the flier and examined it. He read the first word written in big, white letters on it. "Pandemonium?"

"What's that?" Natsu asked.

"My father owns a few clubs around town, some that college and high school students hang out in. He asked me to invite you to perform if you were interested."

Gajeel, Gray, Jellal and Natsu all gaped. "Are you serious?!" They exclaimed in unison.

"Yeah, just to prepare you guys for the real competition." Midnight continued. "On New Years Eve Magnolia will be hosting the Countdown to a New Year. There will also be an event called Pandemonium."

"My little sister said her band, Sabertooth, wants you guys to enter. Freed Justine will be there as well." Sorano continued.

"Enter? You mean it's a competition?" Natsu asked.

Sorano smirked. "Winner gets a record deal with Fiore Entertainment."

"What?!" They four young men yelled again. "Fiore Entertainment!?"

"That is correct." Sorano continued.

"My father works for them, but as a talent scouter. He wants to find the next big thing here in Magnolia and many people have been pointing to you boys."

Jellal looked to his friends. "Well what do you guys think? Are you in?"

"Hell yeah we're in!" Natsu cheered. He looked to Sorano. "You tell Sabertooth they'd better come up with a great performance if they think they're gonna beat us."

Midnight placed a card down on the table. "Here's the address to the club you can perform at. It gets pretty wild so I suggest you bring it your all."

He walked off with Sorano behind him.

Jellal picked up the flier for Pandemonium and read over it. "It's true. Fiore Entertainment is the prize."

Gray draped his arm over Juvia before laughing. "You guys, we are so getting a record deal."

Gajeel grinned. "It's basically another battle of the bands ain't it?"

Natsu stood up. "We'll definitely get first place this time. All those other bands won't even compare to us."

Levy laughed. "Wow you guys sound much more confident."

Gray smirked. "Confidence is key."

Juvia kissed his cheek making him smile down at her. "This time Juvia will make sure to be there."

Jellal set the flier down with a smirk. "Pandemonium... Bring it on!"

* * *

 **Ehhhhh chapters are getting harder and harder to write. Drama and music is sure to come back next chapter. Guest this isn't your typical band fic where there are only lyrics each chapter. Please don't give up on me. Review so I know to keep going and leave me suggestions and feedback on what I can do better!**


	9. They're Playing Our Song

**What I Live For**

"I smoke my cigarette with style."

-Guns N' Roses

 **Please R &R**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 ** _Flashback_** / **Song lyrics**

 _Previously:_

 _Gajeel grinned. "It's basically another battle of the bands ain't it?"_

 _Natsu stood up. "We'll definitely get first place this time. All those other bands won't even compare to us."_

 _Levy laughed. "Wow you guys sound much more confident."_

 _Gray smirked. "Confidence is key."_

 _Juvia kissed his cheek making him smile down at her. "This time Juvia will make sure to be there."_

 _Jellal set the flier down with a smirk. "Pandemonium... Bring it on!"_

 **IX. They're Playing Our Song**

* * *

Every night the crowds seemed to be getting larger. We only got better and better. And somehow, our name was getting out there. Whenever we'd get on stage the crowd would chant our name as if we had been playing for them for years. When we would be walking down the streets of Downtown Magnolia, we were quickly recognized as the guys from Etherion. Anywhere we went, someone came up to us and expressed their love for our music. While we performed we never did pay much attention to the crowd. We'd be so wrapped up in the music that we never even noticed that the people watching us started recording us play with their phones. Little did we know, a certain blonde pop princess, someone who would come to be very important to our career, would soon open up her laptop, browse the internet out of boredom, and stumble upon a video of us, Etherion, performing.

-Gray Fullbuster

...

Juvia sat alone inside the dark office, in front of a bright computer screen, desperately trying to keep her eyes open. About everyone in the office had already left, but she had to make sure that everything was prepared for yet another important meeting that was to be held the next day. She had a pamphlet in front of her, and she had found many errors in the reports that her bosses had left her. She wanted to focus, but at the moment she had a lot on her mind. It had been a long day, and she had barely gotten any sleep the night before because of Gray's performances. Lately the band had been working hard, staying up late, or not sleeping at all in order to prepare for the Pandemonium event which took place in exactly one week. She loved going out and seeing her boyfriend and his friends on stage. With each performance, the crowds got bigger, the cheers became louder, and they kept getting better and better. She was happy for them. She really was. She would support Gray as long as he was happy. But it was a conversation she had earlier with Evergreen which had messed with the young woman's mind.

 ** _"You're what?!" Juvia exclaimed, sitting across from her coworker and very good friend, Evergreen. The two sat inside a nice, small cafe. They were on their lunch break from work. Since there was to be an important meeting the next day, they had both come in early, and would probably end up leaving super late._**

 ** _The brown haired woman messed with her glasses before pulling them off and setting them down on the small, round table. She ran her hand through her long hair, brushing a few strands away from her face and sighed._**

 ** _"I'm going to have a baby."_**

 ** _Juvia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Evergreen was pregnant and she seemed so calm about it. It was great! Babies were adorable. But if Juvia was in Evergreen's situation she was sure she would be freaking out. Despite her own thoughts, she smiled, placing her hands together happily._**

 ** _"That's great news! Juvia is so happy for you. But um..." She lowered her hands and looked right at the woman across from her. "Say... Evergreen-san... Who is the father?"_**

 ** _Evergreen looked down at her untouched mug of hot chocolate while furrowing her brows. "You see, that's the problem. He's such a busy man and we weren't even seeing each other officially just messing around a bit. I wasn't really visiting relatives when I left on my holiday vacation, I was spending time with him."_**

 ** _Juvia nodded in understanding and then leaned her head to the side and gave her friend a confused look. "You... Aren't going to tell the father?"_**

 ** _Evergreen shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do. I mean, I'm keeping my baby, but I'm not sure if telling him will be what's best for everyone. In a few months when I start to show I'll decide whether he should know or not. What do you think?"_**

 ** _Juvia's eyes widened a bit, she leaned forwards and rested her hands on the table, "Juvia thinks that you should tell him. Two people made this child and it's not fair to keep it from him."_**

 ** _"This isn't the way I planned on doing this believe me. I thought I'd be married, living in a nice house in the suburbs... but he's a man who puts work before anything else. He travels a lot so even if I were to tell him, it's not like... He's actually going to be there. I mean, our relationship or whatever it is, it's so complicated. It's not something sure and stable like yours." Evergreen took a bite of her cookie and set it back down on the small pink plate. "I mean, if you were to get pregnant, you'd be sure Gray would be there for you right? Even if he would have to give up that music career he's looking for?"_**

 ** _Juvia stayed quiet for a moment, looking down at the banana nut muffin before her. She hadn't even thought of that before. If Gray- when he- actually does manage to get discovered, he'll be away a lot because of that. Etherion had just began to get gigs, and he came home late a lot when she couldn't accompany him. Then, by the time she woke up in the morning, he was either at his part time job at the music shop, rehearsals with the guys, or he was super focused on doing the music arrangements for the song of Etherion. Celebrities, actors, musicians, they're very busy people right? She bit her bottom lip a bit while shrugging. If she were to get pregnant, would she only be interfering with Gray's career? Is she holding him back already as it is?_**

 ** _"Well... Juvia wouldn't want him to." She mumbled softly. She kept her eyes down, finally able to understand why Evergreen was torn._**

 ** _"You see?" Evergreen picked up the menu and crossed one leg over the other as she examined it. "If you were in my situation, even though your boyfriend is probably one of the greatest guys on this continent, you'd still have a hard time making a decision on whether to tell him or not, wouldn't you?"_**

 ** _Juvia looked down at her lap. "Juvia has never given it much thought. Juvia wants a baby one day... And with no one else but Gray-sama..."_**

 ** _"I've always wanted to be a mother too, and I'm a 27 year old woman so it's not like I'm not mature enough to be one." Evergreen said. She was doing a really good job of keeping her cool. She looked completely relaxed. Then again, Juvia knew Evergreen was much more mature than her._**

 ** _"So the father has absolutely no idea?" Juvia asked._**

 ** _"None. He's good at math but pretty dense when it comes to women actually so I don't think he'll be finding out anytime soon." Evergreen sighed. "It's what's best for everyone. For him, for me. I don't want to feel like I'm holding him back from going forward." She flipped through the pages of the menu, shaking her head. "Yes, it's true we were only fooling around but he's a good man... This is... For the best."_**

 ** _"Now don't say that. Maybe if you tell him then things would change... You can't really think a baby could change your life too much?"_**

 ** _Evergreen let out a soft chuckle. "Sweetie, a baby changes everything. All those happily ever after endings are only in the movies. They don't happen to people with regular lives like me." She set down the menu and looked over the younger woman in front of her. "Anyway, let's eat. We only have about thirty minutes left."_**

 ** _Juvia was convinced that this wasn't what Evergreen wanted but she decided not to say anything else. After all, Evergreen was a grown woman and had every right to decide what she wanted to do. Irregardless of who the father was, she was definitely the mother, so she had the right to do as she pleased. She picked up her own menu but didn't pay much attention to it. All she had on her mind now was her boyfriend. Her dear Gray-sama who she loved to the moon and back times ten. She didn't remember her past but he took care of her, he loved for who she was and all her weird little habits. He was her world, her whole life. She didn't ever want to feel like she was holding him back. She set down her menu and picked up her coffee cup, taking a sip while keeping her boyfriend on her mind._**

"Did someone call for the best boyfriend in the world?"

Juvia snapped out of her thoughts and looked back, a bit shocked to see Gray coming towards her. It wasn't the first time he had come into her workplace while she was alone on her floor, but it had been a while, and she definitely did not expect to see him today. He grinned, holding up a white and red paper bag as she stood up and walked towards him.

"Gray-sama?" She poked his chest, a small smile on her face since she determined that it was really him and not a figment of her imagination. "You're really here."

"Yeah it's me silly." He laughed. "Here I brought you a Caramade Frank." He kissed her cheek before moving to take a seat at the long desk, her, Evergreen, and Lisanna were stationed in. He set down the small bag and watched as she sat in her own seat in front of him. She immediately went back to looking over the reports as he spun around in the computer chair.

"So you'll never believe it."

She gave him a brief glance and shrugged before looking back down at the reports and making notes on them. "Believe what?"

"Until tonight, Jellal had never eaten a Caramade Frank." She merely giggled at the comment as he continued to explain. "So after the show we dragged him down and made him try them. He made a mess of course, but at least he liked it." He continued talking about his night, about the performance, and how the crowds just get bigger and bigger and she just listened. She loved listening to him talk.

"Sounds like you had fun." She commented, standing up and placing all the documents around her desk in a green folder.

He grabbed her wrist, and pulled her down onto his lap while grinning. "It would have been a much better night if you were there." He captured her lips, threading his fingers in her hair while holding her as close as possible. "Then again, we do have the rest of the night and tomorrow to have some fun..."

She laughed a bit and cupped his face, giving him a deep kiss. When she pulled back a few moments later, he grinned, holding her close.

"We sang our new song today." He said softly. Before she could respond he began to sing.

 **Some legends are told**

 **Some turn to dust or to gold**

 **But you will remember me**

 **Remember me for centuries**

 **And just one mistake**

 **Is all it will take**

 **We'll go down in history**

 **Remember me for centuries**

 **(Hey yeah, oh hey, hey yeah)**

 **Remember me for centuries**

"Gajeel's lyrics can be pretty dark." He laughed. "But with the beat and the arrangements I think we found the song were gonna play at Pandemonium."

She smiled at him before she walked over to her bosses office and placed the folder on his desk. She then walked outside back to her own area. "Juvia is done."

He stood up, handing Juvia her jacket which she took and put on quickly. She grabbed all her things then they went down the elevator, and walked out of the large building hand in hand.

They arrived at their home at around two in the morning. They didn't even realize how late it was until they finished making love and checked the time on the clock which read three thirty-two am. Gray looked down at his girlfriend who had fallen asleep right on his chest. He stayed still for a while, just holding her before he gently moved her to lay down on the mattress and pulled the covers over her body, which was covered in hickeys, bite marks and even a few finger marks from grabbing her. Sometimes he did get a bit rough, but he knew she liked it that way. Not that she was all too gentle herself. She had left scratches and bite marks on his skin as well. They were both pretty generous people, but when it came to each other they were extremely possessive. He laid back, his arm behind his head as he shut his eyes. He felt Juvia turn on her side, wrapping one of her arms around his waist while still sleeping. A smile formed on his face as sleep began to overtake him. Sleep, that he had not been getting for the past week. It felt nice to just lay there, to not worry about anything for the moment. He was sure Etherion was prepared for Pandemonium. Although the Sabertooth band was the fan favorite, they were getting just as popular as them.

He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew he was opening his eyes to the sound of his door being knocked on loudly. He rose an eyebrow and looked out the window noticing the sun barely rising into the sky. Juvia must have heard the banging on their door as well since she fluttered her eyes open and looked up at him.

"That can only be one person..." She mumbled, thinking it was her best friend, Lisanna. If it was her, it wouldn't be the first time the white haired girl had come knocking at her door at a ridiculous time of day.

Gray groaned while shaking his head. "Actually, I think it's one of my idiot friends..." He sat up and pulled on some sweats that he had lying around, "or... All of them..." Juvia slipped on a black cropped t-shirt and some red and black checkered pajama bottoms deciding to follow Gray to see who it was. When he opened the door, his eyes fell to slits and he shut it quickly. "Let's get back to bed."

Juvia shook her head with a small smile and went to open the door while Gray fell back on the L shaped sofa.

"Good morning Juvia." Jellal greeted happily, holding a box of donuts and a three cups of coffee in a cardboard cup carrier. He entered the small home followed by Natsu and Gajeel who appeared to be there against their will. Juvia held back a laugh when she noticed their messy hair and how they were still in pajamas. Natsu was even wearing red dragon slippers. Jellal walked in front of Gray. "Good morning sunshine."

"7 am barely counts as morning when you could have slept in till 12." Gray muttered.

Gajeel took a sip of his extra large cup of coffee. He winced and set it down before leaning back into his seat. "I fucking hate coffee. Anyway, what was so important that it couldn't wait till later?"

"Yeah I can't even keep my eyes open..." Natsu mumbled, barely keeping his eyes open.

Jellal pulled out his cell phone, and started tapping the screen in search of something. Gray, Juvia, and Gajeel watched him with interest while Natsu on the other hand ended up falling asleep in the chair he was seated on. Jellal shook his head and walked over the the computer quickly typing something into the Internet search bar. Suddenly they heard a familiar song of a popular artist, the pop princess of that generation, _Lucy Ashley._

"Why are you playing her song?" Gray asked, wrapping his arms around Juvia who was seated on his lap.

"Well I wanted to make sure you guys were familiar with her." Jellal explained, looking back the beautiful, blonde artist on the screen.

"Everyone on this side of the country know that girl." Juvia commented.

"Yeah, even I know who she is." Gajeel added. He tried to keep his eyes away from the couple since he noticed earlier the scratches and hickeys on Gray's body. He really didn't want to think about what they did when they were alone, especially because that was his younger sister. "What's the point?"

"Well. Someone uploaded our last performance on YouTube, and Lucy saw it."

Everyone froze, their eyes wide and raising an eyebrow.

"What? How do you even know that?" Gray asked.

Before Jellal could answer, Natsu's eyes snapped open and he rushed over the computer screen staring at the beautiful girl on the screen.

"Lucy Ashley, the pop princess, girl of my dreams, that Lucy Ashley? She listened to our song?! How!?" He exclaimed.

Jellal pulled out his phone, "She tweets. Check it out."

They gathered around Jellal and looked down at his phone seeing the tweet from Lucy's official page.

 **Lucy Ashley** _(a)lucyashley_

 **So it turns out talent can be found anywhere. Check out my new favorite band, Etherion, by clicking below:**

 **Keep on rocking guys!**

Gray chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in total disbelief of what he was seeing. "That's her actual page."

Gajeel looked at them with an eyebrow raised. "That little princess actually listened to our song?"

"Do you guys think we might meet her?" Natsu asked, still staring at the screen with the blonde dancing and singing. "I took Wendy to one of her concerts once, like two years ago. She's so beautiful and perfect..." He mumbled to himself.

Gray crossed his arms and laughed a bit. "And here I thought flame brains was dense when it came to girls."

Jellal rose an eyebrow while smiling. "If we win a record deal we just might."

Those words made the pink haired young man jump up out of his seat. "Then what are we doing here? We should be rehearsing! I've gotta meet her, I have to."

While Natsu was fantasizing about Lucy, Gray had taken a seat on the computer and clicked on their video. He chuckled a bit. It was kind of funny seeing himself and his friends on stage. He glanced down at the views which made his eyes grow wider than saucers.

"Hey... Jellal... Did you actually click on the video?" Gray said slowly, keeping his eyes on the screen. Everyone looked back at him.

The bluenette rubbed the back of his head. "Well... Actually I didn't..."

"Is there a problem?" Juvia asked, placing her hands on his shoulders.

He stood up in front of her, with a content look of disbelief on his face. "Two million hits. Two million people have listened to our song."

"Are you fucking kidding?" Gajeel exclaimed in disbelief.

Jellal's lips curved into a smile as he chuckled in disbelief. "I can't believe it..."

Juvia threw her arms around her boyfriend and smiled. "That's so amazing. Juvia is so proud of you guys!"

Gray wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up a bit and spinning her around.

Natsu laughed and high fived his friends, all of them were in complete disbelief. As they were cheering and talking about it, Gajeel's iPhone suddenly dinged, which meant he had received a text. He rose an eyebrow as he read the message from Levy, telling him to turn on the radio to a certain station. He walked over to the alarm clock located near the sofa and placed the radio on the station Levy had told him to.

Everyone in the room froze at what they heard next. The announcer was in the middle of the sentence.

"- _with two million over night hits, and a comment from our favorite pop princess Lucy Ashley, all you guys and gals out there listening, give it up for, Etherion!"_

 **Some legends are told**

 **Some turn to dust or to gold**

 **But you will remember me**

 **Remember me for centuries**

 **And just one mistake**

 **Is all it will take**

 **We'll go down in history**

 **Remember me for centuries**

 **(Hey yeah, oh hey, hey yeah)**

 **Remember me for centuries**

"That's my voice! That's our song!" Jellal exclaimed happily, in total shock of everything going on.

"They're playing our song!" Natsu cheered. "They're playing our song on the radio!"

 **Mummified my teenage dreams**

 **No, it's nothing wrong with me**

 **The kids are all wrong**

 **The stories are off**

 **Heavy metal broke my heart**

 **Come on, come on and let me in**

 **The bruises on your thighs like my fingerprints**

 **And this is for tonight**

 **I thought that you would feel**

 **I never meant for you to fix yourself**

"This is fucking crazy." Gray mumbled. "You guys, we are so going to get a record deal!"

Jellal placed his hands together. "Do you guys feel like heading down to the music room and playing our songs?"

"Let's do it!" Gajeel agreed.

Natsu nodded. "Yeah let's go."

"Oh can Juvia come along?" The bluenette asked cheerfully.

Gray placed his lips over hers, giving her a quick kiss. "Of course you can baby."

"Yes. Please do so." Jellal responded, watching as the two rushed towards their room to get their shoes and jackets.

"I'm not really the romantic type but those two are really good together." Natsu commented, placing his jacket back on. "The only thing though is Gray is such a wimp."

Jellal chuckled at the comment. "Why do you say that?"

Natsu looked back towards the small hall, making sure that Gray and Juvia weren't returning just yet. "Well," the drummer lowered his voice. "That day we went shopping right before Christmas, he got her a ring."

Gajeel froze in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah, I thought he was gonna ask her on Christmas Day but he didn't. I don't know what the idiot is waiting for, Juvia's great."

Gajeel ran a hand through his hair. "You really think it's a good idea to let her come? I mean we should stay focused. She's kind of distracting."

"Don't be like that Gajeel." Jellal began. "Levy is always at practices and she isn't distracting."

He sighed and began to walk towards the door. "Whatever, it makes no difference to me. I'll be waiting outside."

He stepped outside of the apartment and made his way down to the bottom floor then walked outside. He couldn't believe it. Gray was going to ask Juvia to marry him. Now Gajeel wasn't going to lie. He liked Gray. Gray was his best friend for crying out loud. The guy had taken care of his little sister, he loved her and he knew that Gray made her happy. Gajeel thought he was dead set on deciding to not tell her the truth. He thought she didn't need to hear it, and it wasn't what was best. But maybe he was wrong. He thought he could live with it, not telling her, or anyone, but he couldn't. He had to tell her. As he walked towards the band van, he sighed to himself wondering how to even begin to explain this to them.

They reached the parking lot of the school, and made their way towards the music room. The entire school seemed to be deserted since the whole student body was on break.

"Lucky for us it's break time, so we don't have to listen to Natsu worry about getting caught in the music room today." Jellal teased, earning a glare from the pink haired boy.

Juvia laughed at the comment while Natsu began to yell about being at the school on a scholarship. Gray and Gajeel walked in silence, a few feet behind the three.

"Hey Gray, there's something I need to talk to ya about." Gajeel said sternly.

Gray rose an eyebrow at the tone of Gajeel's voice. "Is everything alright, man?"

Gajeel shrugged, not looking to the base player. "Not sure yet, I'll know after we talk."

Gray nodded. "Alright then. What's up?"

Gajeel stayed silent a moment, trying to place the words together carefully. The group reached the entrance of the music room, and Jellal typed in the code so they could enter. Juvia and Natsu stepped in and Jellal looked back to Gray and Gajeel.

"You coming?" He asked.

"We'll be right there." Gray responded then looked over at Gajeel. "Well? What is it, man?"

"So I heard you're gonna ask Juvia to marry you?" He started, making Gray confused.

"Well yeah, I was gonna do it after Pandemonium. I already got the ring and -"

"What do you know about her life before you came along?" The long haired man interrupted.

Gray froze, not really sure how to respond to that question. He stayed silent for a moment.

"Juvia lost her memory so I don't really know-."

"Her name is Juvia Lockser. She was five years old when her father died and her mother committed suicide. A few months later she was adopted by a man named Jose who had also adopted another kid, only one year older than her. They grew up together in a large house, with lots of stuff and they got along pretty well..."

"Gajeel what the fuck are you talking about?" Gray asked, looking at this friend shocked. "How do you... Why do you?..."

"The boy Jose adopted was me. When Salamander and I were kids we lived in an orphanage together. But then we got adopted and went our separate ways. Four years ago, Jose died, and Juvia got in some trouble so I tried to help her. We ended up in an accident and the next thing I knew I couldn't find her anywhere. I searched for a while, but ended up running into Salamander and his folks took me in. I decided not to say anything about Juvia so he doesn't know anything."

Gray's eyes widened at Gajeel's words. He had no reason to doubt him. Gajeel was one of his best friends and he had no reason to lie about something like this.

"Wait... So you're saying that you have a little sister... And your little sister is my girlfriend Juvia who lost her memory..."

Gajeel balled his hands into tight fists and looked away from Gray. "Your girlfriend is my little sister Juvia, who lost her memory because of me."

* * *

 **Okay! It's been a while and this story just took a different turn. I wasn't planning on introducing Lucy yet but I couldn't wait. I also couldn't wait to get Gajeel to tell Gray that Juvia is his sister. Anyway please let me know what you think and thank you to everyone who has been supporting me in my story. I hope you all liked.**

 **Song used was _Centuries_ by Fall Out Boy. **

**Please review please! ~ I'll be responding to them next chapter!**


	10. One Night

**What I Live For**

 **"I'd rather die for what I believe, than live a life without meaning."**

 **-The Word Alive**

 **Please R &R**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 _ **Flashback**_ / **Song Lyrics**

 _Previously:_

 _"Her name is Juvia Lockser. She was five years old when her father died and her mother committed suicide. A few months later she was adopted by a man named Jose who had also adopted another kid, only one year older than her. They grew up together in a large house, with lots of stuff and they got along pretty well..."_

 _"Gajeel what the fuck are you talking about?" Gray asked, looking at this friend shocked. "How do you... Why do you?..."_

 _"The boy Jose adopted was me. When Salamander and I were kids we lived in an orphanage together. But then we got adopted and went our separate ways. Four years ago, Jose died, and Juvia got in some trouble so I tried to help her. We ended up in an accident and the next thing I knew I couldn't find her anywhere. I searched for a while, but ended up running into Salamander and his folks took me in. I decided not to say anything about Juvia so he doesn't know anything."_

 _Gray's eyes widened at Gajeel's words. He had no reason to doubt him. Gajeel was one of his best friends and he had no reason to lie about something like this._

 _"Wait... So you're saying that you have a little sister... And your little sister is my girlfriend Juvia who lost her memory..."_

 _Gajeel balled his hands into tight fists and looked away from Gray. "Your girlfriend is my little sister Juvia, who lost her memory because of me."_

 **X. One Night**

* * *

 **"Gajeel-kun! Gajeel-kun!"**

 **The voice of his adoptive sister awoke him that night. He grunted a bit when he felt a weight on top of him, as well as water droplets hitting his body.**

 **"Juvia? What the fuck?"**

 **"You have to help Juvia..."**

 **She was panting heavily, and it was pouring rain outside. He sat up and glared at the younger girl who was drenched in water. Her eyes were red and her face puffy. She looked scared. That was something** **he rarely saw on her.**

 **"What is it? What time is it?"**

 **She wiped away the water mixed in with tears on her face. "Last time Juvia checked it was about midnight."**

 **Gajeel turned his head to look at his alarm clock and growled. "It's three am. You do know I have a test in biology tomorrow."**

 **"... It's Bora..."**

 **"Not that fucker."**

 **"Gajeel-kun! He doesn't leave Juvia alone! And he did something to Juvia's car." The long haired young man rose an eyebrow. She looked him right in his red eyes, messing with her fingers and fidgeting a bit. "There's... Drugs... In Juvia's car..."**

 **Gajeel's eyes widened, he grabbed the girl by her shoulders. "What did you say?"**

 **"Gajeel-kun! Juvia has to get rid of them and she doesn't know what to do! Bora said he'd leave Juvia alone if she transported them to this location!" She showed him her phone screen with an address on it. "But Juvia doesn't want to do it... But if Juvia doesn't then Bora will..."**

 **"Juvia how the fuck did you get into a mess like this?!"**

 **Her bottom lip trembled. "Juvia doesn't know. She just wanted Bora to leave her alone but it didn't happen. Gajeel-kun! Please help Juvia." She lowered her head and began to cry. "Juvia doesn't know what to do..."**

 **He got out of bed, pulling on a sweater and his boots. "Don't ever fucking talk to that psycho again after this alright?"**

 **She looked up and nodded quickly, jumping off of his bed. "Juvia won't."**

 **They walked out into the hall, grabbing his car keys and walked out the front door. Raindrops fell heavily from the sky, drenching the two of them immediately. They climbed into the car, and Gajeel started it up.**

 **"Where are they?"**

 **She sniffled a bit. "Bora said he hid them, and that the person Juvia was supposed to meet knows where they are."**

 **As he drove down the narrow road, the rain began to come down even heavier than it already was.**

 **"Why the fuck haven't you looked for them?!" He shouted, startling her a bit.**

 **She looked at the road ahead which was barely visible, even with the lights of the car on. "Juvia tried. Juvia couldn't find anything."**

 **Thunder began to roar, and Gajeel began to speed up. "I can't see shit with this rain coming down."**

 **Juvia pulled her knees to her chest, hiding her face. "Juvia is sorry. Juvia is sorry."**

 **He sighed, and looked over at her. "Let's just get you out of this alright?"**

 **"Gajeel-kun... Juvia is sorry." She couldn't help but to cry.**

 **Gajeel continued to speed down the road, swerving a bit because of the slippery road. He was pretty pissed off, but not at Juvia, more at himself. He knew Bora was no good, yet he didn't stop Juvia from getting close to him. She lifted her head a bit when she felt the car speed up more than usual. She looked over at her brother with worried eyes.**

 **"G-Gajeel-kun... Slow down a bit... It's raining after all..." He seemed to ignore her, and instead went faster. They couldn't see the road in front of them at all. The rain had gotten heavier, the road even more slippery. "Gajeel-kun!"**

 **"Look I'm trying to get your ass out of this mess as soon as possible! Let me fucking drive!"**

 **"But..."**

 **"Juvia! I said let me fucking-"**

 **"Watch out!"**

...

Gray shot up out of bed, drenched in sweat and panting heavily. He ran a hand through his hair, and attempted to regulate his breathing by inhaling air through his nose. "Shit..." He mumbled to himself, turning to look at his girlfriend who was asleep right beside him. He shut his eyes and rubbed his forehead before getting out of bed and walking towards the kitchen. He grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with cold water, chugging it down quickly. He set the glass down and leaned against the kitchen countertop, his head in his hands as he lost himself in thought. Gajeel Redfox was his girlfriends brother. Juvia had lost her memory in a car crash, and ran off.

 _"N-no... There were more people in the car... And the rain and..."_

The words she had said at the hospital. She had remembered something from her past. Gray pressed his lips together as he stared at the wall. Juvia had never once mentioned she cared about knowing her past. Once they started officially dating, she was always so cheerful, always smiling. At first it annoyed him a bit. How could someone be so happy all the time. Even to this day it's hard for him to put on a genuine smile. But now, he knew the truth. He had the ability to help her remember her past. So, why was he struggling so hard to tell her? He had no idea why. He heard small footsteps coming towards him and he turned his head to look at his girlfriend.

"Can't sleep?"

He shook his head and looked away from her. "This Pandemonium thing must be getting to me." He lied.

She smiled a bit and walked towards him. "Juvia heard your band playing today. Gray-sama your band will do amazing. Juvia is certain." She looked over at the counter, her eyes landing on the empty glass. "Maybe some warm milk would help you sleep better instead of ice cold water."

She reached her arm out to grab the glass but froze when Gray grabbed her wrist. She gasped lightly, and her eyes widened as she looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes seemed colder, his facial expression was way too serious, and his grip was a bit too tight.

"Juvia..." He said, deeply.

Her eyes shifted from the grip on her wrist to the look in his eyes. "Y-yes, Gray-sama?"

He grit his teeth together, and looked her straight in the eyes, refusing to let her look away. He furrowed his brows, wanting to say so much, but words did not escape his lips. He felt as though his lungs were about to explode, and he was running low on air. He thought back to his conversation with Gajeel, after he had told him the story.

 **"Turns out, Bora drugged her. That creep was obsessed with her, but I didn't stop her from getting close to him." Gajeel admitted. He pulled out a carton of Cigarettes from his pocket and lit one up. "She was tripping. And because I didn't realize that, I went and got her in even more trouble then she already was."**

 **Gray was speechless. He didn't know what he was feeling. Whether it was anger, betrayal, or confusion. He was feeling a mix of them all.**

 **"You've known that Juvia is my girlfriend for almost a month now. Why the fuck would you wait so long to tell me something like this?"**

 **"I wasn't gonna say nothing in the first place. But when I heard you were planning on marrying her, I don't know, it just came out." Gajeel exhaled a breath of smoke.**

 **Gray swallowed a lump in his throat before standing up. "I... I don't want you telling her..."**

 **Gajeel's eyes widened a bit as Gray turned to look at him. "Wait? You're gonna decide if and when I tell her?"**

 **He didn't know what to think. Gray's mind was full of emotions at the moment. None of them positive. "Yes. Yes I'll fucking be the one to decide alright? I love her! I love her more than anything I've ever loved, and anything that has ever loved her. I'm the one who took care of her, I'm the one who she'll spend the rest of her life with so yes, it's gonna be me who decides."**

 **Gajeel sat back, not saying one word while Gray went on his little rant. He placed the cigarette back in his mouth, crossing his arms as a breeze blew by him. The air seemed to get chillier in that very moment. The pierced man exhaled yet another smoke filled breath.**

 **"It don't matter to me." Gajeel walked passed Gray, towards the music building where Natsu, Jellal, and Juvia were sitting. "I've done my part."**

 **"How did you just let her run away?" Gray asked. "I still don't get that part. And what about the other car? Who the fuck was in the other car?!"**

 **Gajeel looked back at Gray, dropping the remainder of the cigarette on the ground and stopping on it. "I can't answer that. Everything after the crash is just a big blur to me."**

Juvia continued to look at Gray with confused eyes. "What's the matter?"

He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it immediately. He leaned forwards, pressing a kiss on her forehead before he walked towards the door. The bluenette remained frozen, as she was shocked by his actions. After a moment, she turned and looked back, following her boyfriend.

"I'm sorry." He said quickly, pulling some clothes on. "I need to... I need fresh air."

"G-gray-sama... No! Come back to bed."

He ignored her, and pulled on a sweater as he walked towards the door. "I'll be back soon alright."

"Don't go... It's the middle of the night!" She grabbed his sleeve staring at him with concerned eyes. "Please..."

"Sorry."

He rushed out the door before she could get in another word.

"Gray-sama!" He heard her cry through the closed door.

A piece of his heart felt like it was going to rip open, but another piece felt as though it had been turned ice cold. He rushed out of the apartment complexes, and the cold air hit his body. He climbed into his car, with no destination, when suddenly his phone rang. He ignored it, and drove off.

...

" _Of Mice and Men?_ That's a book Gajeel."

Gajeel rolled his eyes and he turned on his side to face the small woman. She was seated on his bed, her knees to her chest as she sorted through his box of seemingly hundreds of CD albums.

"I'm telling you shorty, it's in there."

She sighed as she continued to look through the cardboard box. It was just as messy as the rest of Gajeel's room. He had clothes scattered all over, books and CD's all over the place, and guitars, in their cases, lying on random corners of the room.

"It's not in here Gajeel, I've triple checked."

He grunted and laid on his stomach, shutting his eyes. "Fuck it. I'm going to sleep then."

She looked at the clock on the wall and gasped. "Whoa, I didn't even notice how late it had gotten."

With his eyes still shut, Gajeel smirked. "What does it matter? You've basically been living here since the whole battle of the bands thing."

Levy blushed a bit, setting the box down and laying beside him on her back with her hand over her stomach. "It never seemed to bother you."

Gajeel didn't respond. He reached up and flicked the light switch off.

"I don't care if you do or don't. It's your life."

She turned her head, looking at the back of his. "You okay? I know you're tired of hearing this but..."

"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked.

"You've been acting weird lately... Well for a while now."

He let out a breath and laid on his back. "If you're gonna keep talking at least let me put on some earphones."

Her eyes fell to slits as she glared at him. "You can't keep your feelings bottled up inside you forever you know."

"Hm..." He grumbled, sounding annoyed as he turned more over.

"I'm serious! If you need someone to talk to or listen to you I'm here Gajeel! I don't want you going through anything alone! That's why you have friends, you're supposed to trust them an..."

Her eyes widened when he sat up quickly and pressed his lips against hers. He pulled away quickly, "you got a really annoying mouth you know that," and laid back down without saying another word. Levy on the other hand remained frozen, laying at his side, her face as red as a tomato.

"BAAD NEWWWS!" They heard a voice shout from the other room.

...

Natsu sat inside his living room with Wendy and Happy at either side with him. They watched the television, with an almost empty box of pizza in front of them.

"This is boring." Wendy complained, her eyes half open.

"There's nothing else on Wendy."

"But there are like 500 channels... There's gotta be something interesting on."

Natsu leaned back and sighed, lifting up the remote control in his hand. "Well then how about-"

"BAAD NEWWWS!" The door slammed open, making the siblings jump from their seat to spot a drenched Jellal standing at the door.

Gajeel walked into the room with Levy following behind him. They both had confusion on their faces.

Levy rose an eyebrow, looking passed her cousin to the outside. "Why are you soaked? It's not raining."

Jellal let out a breath, panting heavily as he moved more into the apartment. He collapsed on the couch with his eyes shut. "I ran all the way here from school."

"It's like 4 blocks from here." Natsu commented, chuckling a bit.

Gajeel smirked. "It's time for Jellal to hit the gym."

The blue haired man glared at his friends. "This is no time for jokes, something happened..." He lifted his head up, his brows furrowed as he looked around the room. "Hey, where's Gray?" Everyone in the room exchanged glances as Jellal sat up from the couch. He pulled out his cellphone with an eyebrow raised. "He hasn't even opened my texts yet."

Gajeel leaned against the wall. "It's one A.M. He's probably sleeping."

"Yeah, it's one A.M. SO WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING BURSTING THROUGH OUR DOOR AND YELLING?!" Natsu shouted loudly.

"OI SALAMANDER, NOW YOU'RE YELLING TOO!" Gajeel exclaimed, glaring at Natsu.

"Um... You're all yelling now." Levy said softly, taking a seat at the table. She pulled her short hair back into a high pony tail.

Natsu looked back at Wendy. "Hey Wendy, go hang out in my room alright?"

The girl pouted, picking up Happy and walking away. "I'm never around for the good stuff..."

Once she had walked away, Levy looked back at Jellal.

"So what happened?"

Jellal walked forwards. "It's the music room... I was walking towards it a while ago to get some practice in and then I saw a sign that said its gonna get teared down!"

Gajeel rose an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Jellal blinked, before nodding. "Yes."

The dark haired man turned on his heels. "Then I'm going to bed."

"Me too." Natsu agreed.

Jellal glared at his friends. "What? You guys don't care at all?!"

"If its getting teared down what are we gonna do about it? You said it yourself, students there don't care about music anymore." Natsu said.

"He's right, Jellal." Levy stood up. "It can't be helped."

Jellal looked down, falling back on the couch once more. "It's important to me. It's our hang out spot. It's not just where we became a band- it's where we became friends."

Gajeel gagged. "When did this become some cheesy bromance novel?"

Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head. "Besides, there really is nothing we can do. We're just four students there, and my grades suck. The headmaster isn't gonna listen to me."

"There's gotta be something..." Jellal began.

"There ain't." Gajeel said, walking back to his room.

Natsu sighed. "It's not like we actually need that place anyway, we can practice here or downstairs." He walked towards his room as well.

Levy offered him a smile. "Things will workout." She walked away leaving the young man alone.

He sighed and rested his chin on his hand. There had to be something he could do... Something. Something. _Something_...

He smirked when he got an idea.

...

Juvia slowly opened her eyes when she heard noises coming from outside of her room. She furrowed her brows, and shifted to her side, trying to recall what had happened the previous night. The last thing she remembered was Gray leaving. She removed the covers from her body, finding herself in one of his t-shirts. She glanced at the clock which read 8:30 A.M then she jumped out of bed and walked outside of her room slowly.

"G-Gray-sama?" She called out.

"More like best friend-sama." A voice called back, walking out of the kitchen and facing the bluenette. Juvia rose an eyebrow when she spotted Lisanna in her house, wearing pajamas.

"Lisanna?"

The short haired girl winked, "so I guess you're feeling better. When you called me last night I got pretty worried, but by the time I had come over you were asleep on the couch."

Juvia looked at her with confusion, moving to sit down. "Juvia... Juvia doesn't know what happened."

Lisanna set two mugs on the table, placing one in front of Juvia. She then pulled out a a chair, a took a seat. "Something about Gray acting strange and leaving." Lisanna lifted her hand and swiped her finger underneath Juvia's eye. "You cried. A lot. You still have red marks here."

Juvia placed her hands against the warm mug for comfort as she looked down at the table. "Gray-sama didn't come back?"

Lisanna shook her head no. "He's probably with his friends. Don't worry too much okay."

"Juvia loves him..."

Lisanna's chuckled a bit to lighten the mood. "He loves you too! I mean anyone could see that! And geez, that ring he got you is beautiful! Why didn't you tell me by the way?! Planning on running off and getting married without consulting me?"

Juvia rose her head up, raising an eyebrow. "What ring?"

Lisanna's eyes widened. "... Did... Did I say ring? I meant... I meant..." She attempted to cover up her words.

"Gray-sama got Juvia a ring?"

Lisanna face palmed, and leaned forwards. "I need to learn to shut up."

The bluenette gasped, her eyes lighting up a bit as she pictured her boyfriend proposing to her. She fell into a daze, forgetting all the negative feelings and simply feeling peace and happiness at the thought of Gray popping the question.

"Juvia..." Lisanna waved her hand in front of the bluenette's face. "Cmon! We're gonna be late for work! Elf-niichan needs us there today!"

...

"I'm tired. I don't wanna do another encore!" A blonde woman complained, stepping into her dressing room. She threw herself on the couch and kicked her boots off. She could still hear the crowds cheering. "Erza! Do something!"

A scarlet haired woman entered after her, glaring hellfire at the young woman. "Listen Lucy! I didn't become your manager to baby you. I did it to make your career better! Now get your ass up and go sing one more song!"

Lucy growled and turned to lay on her back. "Can't you play a song from the album or something?"

"They're chanting your name out there!"

Lucy sighed and sat up. She looked at a poster of herself before turning to look at Erza. "This concert is also being aired live on Fiore TV right?"

Erza nodded, scrolling through her iPad. "Yes, why?"

"You think _he's_ watching?" Lucy asked. "He could be..."

The scarlet haired woman looked away, adjusting her sweater. "Lucy..."

"I know he didn't support my music career but still there might be a chance that..."

"Children don't get to chose their parents. You of all people know that fact too well, Lucy. When it comes to him... I'd like to think he's living his own life, just as he left you to live yours."

Lucy looked down and nodded. "Yeah..." Her voice cracked. "I love singing. Ever since I was a little girl, all I wanted to do is sing. But with my mom gone, and him not supporting me its hard sometimes." She looked out at sky through the window on the ceiling. "Sometimes I wish I didn't have feelings. I wish I was the perfect singing machine. Then I wouldn't let anyone down anymore."

"You're an amazing singer Lucy. While you may not have any blood relatives, everyone here, your staff, your team, we love you. And we'd rather die than give you up to a life where you're not happy." Erza smiled. "How about I cancel all your appointments Saturday and give you a free day? Anything you want."

The blonde smiled, and stood up, letting out a breath. "Alright. I know exactly what I want to do! There's this competition thing called Pandemonium. I say we throw on some disguises and go watch?"

Erza chuckled. "You want to go and see those Etherion idiots, don't you?"

Lucy stood in front of the mirror. "They blew me away Erza. I have to see them for myself."

"Whatever you want." The scarlet haired woman said before walking out of the room.

Lucy smiled and walked out after her.

* * *

I'm a lazy piece of shit who lost inspiration for this fic so sorry about the wait. I hope this is turning out different than you all expected and please review and I may update faster :3

Until next time! & yes, more twists and turns in the future! REVIEW PLEASE! I know this chapter wasn't great, but its something :)


	11. Pandemonium

**What I Live For**

 **"We are absolute predators."**

 **-Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas**

 **Please R &R**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 **Song Lyrics / _Flashbacks_**

 _Previously:_

 _Jellal looked down, falling back on the couch once more. "It's important to me. It's our hang out spot. It's not just where we became a band- it's where we became friends."_

 _Gajeel gagged. "When did this become some cheesy bromance novel?"_

 _Natsu interlaced his fingers behind his head. "Besides, there really is nothing we can do. We're just four students there, and my grades suck. The headmaster isn't gonna listen to me."_

 _"There's gotta be something..." Jellal began_

 _"There ain't." Gajeel said, walking back to his room._

 _Natsu sighed. "It's not like we actually need that place anyway, we can practice here or downstairs." He walked towards his room as well._

 _Levy offered him a smile. "Things will workout." She walked away leaving the young man alone._

 _He sighed and rested his chin on his hand. There had to be something he could do... Something_. _Something_. _Something..._

 _He smirked when he got an idea._

 **XI.** **Pandemonium**

* * *

Natsu twirled his drumsticks in his fingers, walking towards his set while nodding his head to the beat of the music playing from his phone through his earbuds. He took a seat on his stool, and began to pound away loudly, not worried about waking up Gajeel. He knew for a fact that the young man slept with earphones on, and that he also listened to hardcore metal in his sleep. He continued to bang on his drums, following the rhythm of the song he was listening to until the light from the outside world peeked its way into his currently dark apartment. He did not stop playing the drums, he simply looked up, removing one earbud when Jellal stepped inside, leaving the door open, From what Natsu could see, it had begun to snow outside. The ground was covered in a large white blanket, and he could feel a breeze hit him. He lifted his eyes and looked up at Jellal's face, a bit surprised to spot a formed, purple bruise on his face.

"Whoa... what did you get in a fight or something?" Natsu asked, ceasing his playing and setting his drumsticks down.

Shrugging, Jellal pushed the door open some more to reveal a passed out Gray laying in the snow. "You could say something like that."

As if on cue, Gajeel stepped out of his bedroom, raising an eyebrow at the scene before him. He glanced at Natsu, then at Jellal, then at the passed out Gray.

"I don't even want to know what happened." The guitarist muttered before turning and disappearing into the kitchen.

Jellal pulled Gray inside the apartment as Natsu shut the door and followed after them to the couch. After laying him down, not at all gently for that matter, Jellal took a seat on the recliner, while Natsu went back to his drum stool. The pinkette noticed the bruises on Gray's face, one under his eye and one on his cheek, before turning to the lead singer of his band with a perplexed expression.

"You gonna tell me what happened?"

"I can't. All I know for certain is that if you try to get a drunk Gray to give you his car keys, he'll punch you right in the face." Jellal pulled something out of his jacket pocket before crossing his arms, an angry look appeared on his face, causing Natsu's eyes to widen. He had never seen such a look on Jellal before. Gajeel stepped out of the kitchen holding a glass of fruit juice in his hand. He leaned against the wall, listening in with interest at the bluenette's next words. "It wasn't just alcohol though. I haven't asked him yet but I think," Jellal held up a small orange pill container filled to the top with what looked to be small white pills. "He was under the influence of something else..."

Gajeel's eyes widened, and he set his glass down on the table, stepping closer to his friends. "What the fuck?"

"Gray is using drugs?" Natsu said, shocked, standing up and examining the orange container even closer. "I've seen these before. I think they're ADHD pills. Where the hell could he have gotten them?"

"It aint hard to buy drugs like those in this day and age." Gajeel stated, earning serious looks from both Jellal and Natsu. He threw his hands up in defense. "I didn't say I was buying them. You should see the brainiacas at that school. They pop those things like candy."

"Is Levy using?!" Jellal asked, standing up and glaring at the taller man.

Gajeel furrowed his brows. "How the hell should I know."

Going back to his drum set, Natsu looked over at the out cold Gray. "Good thing you beat the crap out of this droopy eyed idiot or else I would have."

"It wasn't me." Jellal replied. "I went to pink him up at a bar. The owner called my phone from his and said he needed someone to take him home right away."

"Wait a second... What the hell was the bastard doing at a bar?! What about Juvia?" Gajeel asked, a hint of anger in his voice. "Did that idiot just abandon her in their home?"

"I'm not sure of what happened yet. We're gonna have to wait for him to wake up and explain himself." Jellal answered, walking towards the kitchen to search for some ice.

"If he remembers..." Natsu mumbled, placing his earbuds back in his ears and nodding his head to the song that was playing.

...

Gray's eyes fluttered open slowly. There was a pounding in his head, but an even stronger feeling of discomfort on his face. Still laying down, he recognized his surroundings as Natsu and Gajeel's place. His eyes narrowed in confusion. He had no idea when or how he ended up in that place. The last thing he remembered about the previous night was laying down next to Juvia. He had been doing that every night since they had begun to live together. Why was he waking up in a new place this certain morning, and more importantly, why was he just laying there as Natsu's blue cat Happy laid on his chest, lightly smacking the man every time he wagged his tail.

"Hey!" The young man sat up quickly, scaring the poor blue cat off of his chest, down the hallway and into Natsu's room. Gray glanced over to his side, seeing his three bandmates standing there, all of them arms crossed, all of them giving him a serious look. "How the hell did I end up here?" He mumbled, holding his head in his hands.

Jellal and Natsu exchanged looks before the bluenette looked back at Gray. "You really don't remember what happened?"

Narrowing his eyes a bit, Gray focused on Jellal- well more on the bruise the man had on his cheek. "Did you get in a fight?" Without saying a word, Gajeel lifted his cellphone with the front camera turned on, showing Gray a reflection of himself. "Did... we get in a fight?" Gray asked, his eyes widenening as he examined his own bruises. He handed the phone back to Gajeel and turned to sit facing his friends. "Someone gonna tell me what's going on or not? You guys having some sort of intervention for me or something?"

"First things first." Natsu began. He held up the orange pill container and tossed it at Gray who caught it with ease. The young man only rose an eyebrow as he stared at the container. It didn't even have any labels on it. "You're gonna tell us why Jellal found ADHD meds in your car last night."

"What?" Gray asked, looking to Jellal with confusion. "How the hell should I know, I don't even remember what happened."

"The bar... the fight... punching me in the face? None of this rings a bell..." Jellal asked.

Gray stood up, a serious look on his face. "No."

The three young men all looked at each other before turning to look at back Gray. He looked a mixture of confused and angry.

"So you have no idea where these came from?"

Gray stared at the container before gritting his teeth and glaring up at his friends. "If you're asking whether I'm on drugs or not, the answer is no. I'm not. There are you satisfied? Now Jellal, will you tell me just where the hell I was last night?" Setting the orange container down, Gray took a seat, looking up at the bluenette who appeared as though he didn't believe Gray. Noticing this look Gray glared at Jellal. "I'm telling you the truth."

"You were drunk." Jellal began, shutting his eyes and lowering his head a bit. "You went a bar near Magnolia College and got drunk. Then, apparently, you got in a fight with these two guys, and the owner of the pub called me since I was the last one to have dialed you."

 _ **A brown haired young woman wearing very revealing clothing stood at the doorframe of the pub, glaring down at the drunk young man who had disturbed her drinking time.**_

 _ **"Jeez, a girl cant drink in peace around here without all you stupid men starting a ruckus." Being drunk herself, she giggled a bit. "It was kind of funny though, the way you just jumped up on that guy... hm?" She looked down to the sulking young man. "So you're a sad drunk huh? Wanna tell me what's on your mind?" He remained silent as the woman took a swig of her bottle. All of a sudden, she heard footsteps coming towards her. A tall, rather handsome, young man came walking down the sidewalk, stopping right in front of them. "you Jellal?"**_

 _ **"Yes, yes I am."**_

 _ **The woman stood up, giggling a bit. "Your friend here is quite the hot head. He socked two guys just for.. um... well I'm not sure why but it was pretty funny."**_

 _ **"He got in a fight?" Jellal asked shocked, finally taking notice of the bruises on Gray's face. "Thank you for the call..."**_

 _ **"Don't thank me, its my old man you should thank... later." She walked back into the bar, leaving a confused Jellal with a very drunk Gray.**_

 _ **"Get off me..." Drunk Gray mumbled, shoving himself away from his friend.**_

 _ **"You're drunk, Gray. C'mon... lets get you home."**_

 _ **"No." The young man walked off, leaning on the side of a building. "I'm... I'm... lying to her..."**_

 _ **He sighed. "C'mon Gray."**_

 _ **"Fuck off already."**_

 _ **Jellal kept his patience, remembering his friend was drunk. Jellal was well aware of the affects alcohol had on people.**_

 _ **"Gray..."**_

 _ **"I said fuck off!"**_

 _"_ After that, you swung, and I got this thing right here." Jellal lifted his hand, pointing at his bruise.

Gray pressed his lips together, "Well now you know why I don't get drunk often..." He looked at Jellal. "Sorry."

"So you don't know if you took the drugs or not?" Gajeel blurted, glaring at Gray.

"I'm not sure what happened, but I sure as hell know I'm not some drug addict." The bassist argued.

Gajeel grit his teeth, tossing Gray the house phone he and Natsu had in their home. "Call Juvia now." He stepped out of the room without another word and Gray froze in thought, completely understanding what Gajeel meant by that.

"She must be worried." Jellal noted, "But I believe you, Gray." Natsu nodded as Jellal continued to speak. "Yeah... anyways lets move on from this. Pandemonium is in two days. Lets prepare shall we?"

"Hang on." Gray mumbled, picking up the orange container pill, placing it in his pocket and picking up his keys which Jellal had left on the table. "I need to talk to Juvia right now."

...

"Juvia guess what today is!?" Lisanna chirped loudly, spinning the bluenette around in her chair to face her. The Strauss girl giggled a bit, lifting up a calendar with a large red circle around the date. "Elf-niichan has a meeting with one of the guys from that really stuck up company. He's coming down here soon, and it's your turn to greet the visitor!"

Juvia frowned, pushing the calendar aside. "What? Juvia did it last time!" The bluenette protested.

"Nuh-uh... Evergreen did it last time. It's your turn..."

Rolling her eyes the bluenette stood up. "Not fair." She began to walk towards the elevator while Lisanna laughed, falling back into her seat.

"Have fun..."

Juvia playfully glared back at the woman, stepping into the elevator and going all the way down to the lobby. A part of her job was greeting the other businessmen and women who come from different companies to meet with theirs.

"Juvia doesn't even know what time this person is supposed to arrive..." She checked the time on the clock at the front desk, sighing as she tapped her foot against the ground. Minutes passed, and she looked back at the doors when they suddenly slid open, but her eyes widened slightly when she spotted Gray walking in. She was currently upset with him, but she began to get worried seeing the brusies on his face. "Gray-sama... what happened to you?"

He had his hands in his pockets, walking towards her slowly keeping his eyes locked on hers.

"Juvia... We need to talk."

"Where did you go last night?" She asked, seemingly ignoring him completely. When he stepped right in front of her she took a step back.

"Look I'm sorry about last night. I wasn't feeling like myself but there's something more important going on."

"You didn't answer the phone. You left Juvia alone..."

He looked around them, not seeing anyone except the sleepy door receptionist who hadn't even acknowledged his presence. He pulled out the small orange pill container. "Do these look familiar to you?"

She looked down, her brows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

Gray rubbed his forehead. "So they aren't yours... I didn't think so." He stuffed them back in his pocket and sighed. "I have no idea where they even came from."

Juvia rose an eyebrow. "What are those?"

"It doesn't really matter. They aren't mine or yours." He grabbed her hand in his and pulled her closer to him. To his surprise she didn't pull away. She returned the equally serious expression he was giving her. "I love you." He said, pressing his forehead against hers. Her serious look softened. It was impossible to stay mad at him when he acted like this. She should be upset. She had the right. But she couldn't. She couldn't be mad at her beloved Gray-sama. "I'm sorry."

"Gray-sama... Juvia is working..." She blushed a bit as he pulled away from her. "Juvia is sorry. Can we talk at home?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Gray looked away from her. "I've got to practice with the guys so I might be home late."

"Juvia can wait up..."

He pressed a kiss on her forehead causing her to giggle a bit. "Don't feel like you have to."

She placed her hands on his face, her thumb tracing over the bruise on his cheek. "Juvia needs to know where Gray-sama was last night and how he is feeling."

He looked towards the door. "Don't worry. I was just out of it yesterday."

She pulled him down and pressed her lips against his. "Juvia is still upset with you."

He grinned. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

After a few more laughs and kisses he walked out of the large building, getting into his car and driving off. He didn't know who the pills belonged to, but he sure as hell was glad it wasn't Juvia.

Back in the building, the young woman was in a daze, day dreaming about her boyfriend. She had completely forgotten why she was even standing in the lobby, that was until the doors opened again, and in came two men. Juvia turned around quickly, offering them a friendly smile when she recalled where she was and what she was supposed to be doing.

"Welcome! Please allow Juvia to escort you to the conference room where Elfman-Sama is waiting!"

...

"Why do I feel like it's been forever since we've practiced?" Natsu asked, taking a seat at his drumset as Jellal and Gajeel both set up their own stations.

"Maybe cause it has... but who cares." Gajeel responded, pulling his guitar strap over his shoulder followed by tuning the strings on it.

They all turned their heads when a fourth person stepped into the apartment, his bass in his hand. "Ready when you guys are." He turned to Gajeel giving the man a stern look. "She's clean."

Gajeel nodded and went back to work on his guitar.

Growling, Natsu lifted his drumstick pointing at the man who had just walked in. "We've been waiting for you ice brain!"

"I had something to do, idiot." Gray muttered, taking his place next to Gajeel while slipping his bass on as well.

"What did you just call me, bastard?!" The pinkette growled, jumping out of his seat stomping towards Gray.

"You heard me, you idiot." Gray hissed, stepping towards Natsu getting in his face.

"You wanna fight me too, droopy eyes?! I'm all fired up! Bring it on, Ice princess!"

The two gasped, covering their ears and glaring at Jellal when the mic he was setting up made a high pitched sound. Gajeel shut one eye and grit his teeth.

"What the hell man?" Gray shouted.

Natsu growled. "You trying to make us deaf or something?!" He yelled with a fiery aura surrounding him.

"The way you play drums I'm surprised your ears haven't bled out yet." Gajeel began, not turning to look at his room/band mate as he spoke.

"Yeah you trying to make a point there?" Natsu hissed.

Jellal sighed as he looked at his friends. "C'mon lets stay focused. There's no point in arguing now."

Gray looked to Gajeel then back at Natsu. "I hate to admit it, but metal face is right." Everyone heard Gajeel growl at the name Gray had used to describe him. "Natsu, you're hitting the drums way too hard, which wouldn't be a problem if Jellal just sang louder."

"What?" The bluenette looked back, shocked that Gray would even say something like that. "I believe I sing loud enough. We're not heavy metal so its not like I can just start screaming at the top of my lungs."

Gray turned around, not saying a word in response.

"Alright whatever..." Gajeel interjected, "I watched the video that the bunny girl posted up, and if we're gonna win that record deal somethings gotta change."

"What do you mean? We cant switch the song! The one Lucy shared is the one with the highest chance if getting us signed with Fiore Entertainment." Natsu said, sitting back down.

Jellal nodded in agreement. "He's right." He let go of the microphone and picked up the original sheet music for the song. "There's no way we can rearrange the whole song and make it in time for the competition."

"The point of rehearsal is to better improve our chances at winning!" Gajeel argued.

"It's not the song, it's the way we're playing it!" Gray shouted. "The fans won't notice the awkward set up, simply because they don't know music! But the judges, and the music executives will notice if we screw up." He turned to look at his bandmates. "We either pick a new song or rearrange this one. We can't keep playing the way we are right now... If we do that then Sabertooth is gonna get that contract for sure."

"We're rushing to conclusions. Lets just play the song and see what we need to work on." Jellal suggested.

The played the song. Then played it again. And again. And again...

"This isn't working! It sounds good, but not good enough to get us a recording contract." Gray's voice was full of impatience and irritation.

Gajeel removed the guitar, Natsu stood up with his hands behind head and Jellal leaned his forehead against the microphone which was on a stand.

"So what do we do?" Gajeel asked.

Natsu looked back at his friends. "Rookie bands from all over are gonna be there... all of them have way more experience than us."

Jellal shook his head. "We've come way too far to quit now."

Nobody said a word. The boys of Etherion simply sat their in silence. Minutes that felt like hours passed, but nobody made a move. It used to be so much easier for them. They'd just play and it would automatically sound good. Things had been falling well into place so far. They all agreed to join the band, they performed and came in second place the first time they sang in front of a real crowd, they got gigs around town, a celebrity promoted them, and they had even been on the radio! Things were going so well.. so what changed? Was it the pressure? The feeling of wanted to rise to stardom. These were things that they had not even thought about before.

Natsu sighed, picking up his sticks and beginning to lightly tap his drums to the beat of the chorus of their song. Jellal began to nod his head, and began to mumble the lyrics. Gray smirked, lifting up his bass as Natsu began to pick up the pace of his plying. Before they even knew it, Gajeel had joined them, Jellal was singing loudly, and that feeling of being in a band, of playing with their friends came back. By the end of the song they were all smiling. The tension and the pressure they had felt before was gone. It was all about the music at the end of the day, and when they put their heads together, there was nothing they couldn't do. Even at the end of their rehearsal they still felt as though something was missing, but they'd figure it out somehow.

...

"When you said you'd be late Juvia presumed it would be around midnight or one a.m... not the next morning..." The bluenette smiled, placing her arms around her boyfriend when he laid beside her on their bed.

Gray shut his eyes, "Sorry. Jellal and I were working on the lyrics and musical arrangements all night. I tried to call but I guess you fell asleep."

Juvia lifted her arm and touched the dark bags under his eyes. He looked pale, and like he was going to be sick. "Gray-sama... have you slept?"

"Don't worry, I'll be home tonight so I'll get some sleep before the day of the competition."

"Why not rest now darling?" She laughed, laying her head on his chest.

His eyes opened slowly and he looked over at the clock, reading the time. "I've gotta get to work in an hour."

Her eyes widened and she sat up, looking down at him with concern. "Gray-sama..."

"I can't just call out. Loke's been there all week." He explained, shutting his eyes again. "Anyways, there's a new kid coming to work at the store, I've gotta train him."

She removed the covers from her body and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Don't overdo it okay?"

He chuckled a bit, leaning his head to the side while exhaling a deep breath. "Don't worry so much. I'm fine."

...

"Oi, shrimp. The hell you doing?"

Gajeel watched with confusion as the bluenette turned his bedroom upside down in search of something. She bent down to search under the bed as Gajeel leaned against the wall, taking this time to examine her cute, little booty. He chuckled to himself but his grin fell when she shot up and glared at him.

"Pervert."

"Ain't like I haven't seen it before." She rolled her eyes and stepped over the pile of clothes he had laying on the ground. She ran her hands through her hair, an angry look on her face. "The fuck you looking for?"

Levy's face turned red, and she looked at her hands, messing with her fingers. It appeared as though she was about to open her mouth to talk, but she shut it immediately, shaking her head.

"It's nothing... I have to go."

She ran passed him quickly, "Hey, shorty!" But she had already ran out of his apartment.

...

"Romeo, huh? And you're eighteen?"

The dark haired boy grinned and turned to look at the older man. "I know I don't look it, but I am." He shoved his hands in his pockets and took out his wallet, showing Gray an ID. See, I'm a senior at Vermillion High School."

Gray shrugged it off and leaned against the counter. The store had been moving pretty slowly today, with only about three customers currently browsing around at the CD's and other items they had to offer.

"This job's pretty easy as you can see." Gray mumbled, "Kinda boring actually..."

Romeo's chuckled, "Well yeah maybe a little. But when I spotted this store I just knew I had to work here. Surrounded by music all day long- well for the part time shifts I get here anyways."

Gray smirked. "You're into music? You play anything in particular?"

"The bass, guitar, and occasionally the drums." Romeo answered. "I don't play in a band like you or anything but-"

Gray lifted his arm and stopped him in his tracks. Romeo rose an eyebrow at the bassists' sudden movement. "You know my band?"

"Are you kidding?" Romeo responded. "Everyone in Magnolia knows who you guys are. I saw you at one of those clubs one night. Personally I'm more of a Natsu fan, but I think youre a great bass player."

Gray walked into a room behind their spot on the counter, coming back out with a bass guitar. He handed it to Romeo causing the boy to look at him with confusion.

"Let me see what you've got." The man demanded, while Romeo simply laughed as he strapped on the bass. To Gray's surprise, the kid sounded good, like he had been practicing for years. After about a minute of playing, Gray nodded, crossing his arms and a smile settling on his face. "Pretty good kid, not bad at all."

"I heard you guys are performing tomorrow night at Pandemonium."

Gray nodded, "Yeah we are."

Romeo set the bass down back in the room that Gray had taken it out of. Once he stepped back out, he leaned against the counter, looking out at the rows full of CD's and other musical related things.

"Sabertooth is gonna be performing too, but I'm routing more towards you guys."

"Oh yeah?" Gray asked.

"Yeah, if anyone should get a record deal it's you guys."

Gray smirked a bit. "You sound more like a fifteen year old than an eighteen year old."

Romeo chuckled, "Yeah I get that a lot."

...

"Finally the day has arrived!" Jellal exclaimed, walking onto the fair grounds with Natsu and Levy.

Already, people had begun to fill up the area, playing games, watching the acts and simply spending time with their families. It reminded them a lot of the festival in which they took part in the battle of the bands, except this time, many girls who had already arrived had been giving them flirtatious looks. There had been tents set up, the scent of food filled the air, and the night sky was staring to overpower the daylights which still had a bit of time left to stay in the sky.

"Great turnout." Levy noted, wearing a red winter coat, black pants and boots.

Jellal pulled out his cellphone, "This is where Gray and Juvia told us to meet them. I believe that Gray is also bringing someone else."

Natsu began to put on a pair of black gloves, shivering a bit from the cold breeze blowing by him. "Wendy should be here soon too."

As if on cue, Natsu looked back when he felt two arms wrap around his middle and heard a familiar laugh.

"I'm surprised you found us here in the middle of all these people," Levy said, hugging the younger girl.

Wendy giggled. "I'm glad my mom and dad let me come. My best friend Chelia is around here too."

The foursome looked over when three more people came their way.

"Everyone, this is Romeo, Romeo, this is... everyone." Gray introduced.

The raven haired boy examined everyone with a friendly smile, until his eyes landed on a certain, long haired bluenette, looking at him in with the same shock. Wendy furrowed her brows in confusion, but did not say one word.

"I-Its nice to meet you all." He said softly.

"No need to be shy, we don't bite." Levy replied with a laugh.

Romeo chuckled as well, rubbing the back of his head looking away from Wendy.

"Gajeel-san is not here?" Juvia noted, looking around the group.

"Don't worry about him, he said he wanted some alone time before the band goes on." Levy checked the time on her watch."Speaking of which you guys have about thirty two or so minutes to kill before you have to be on stage."

Natsu lifted his arm, "That means it's time to explore!"

Gray sighed. "You know I think I'm gonna take it easy before we go on too."

Jellal lfted his cellphone. "Jet and Droy are about to be here, I'm gonna go check on the equipment."

"I'll come too." Levy agreed.

Wendy looked at the crowd of people. "And I'll bet Chelia is around here."

Romeo looked around. "Yeah I spotted some of my friends too."

The group all nodded and went their separate ways. They decided to meet up ten minutes before the group had to be backstage. Gray sighed, sitting down on a bench and resting his eyes. Juvia sat beside him, her hand on his thigh.

"Gray-sama told Juvia that he would rest last night."

Gray opened one eye to peek at her. He shut it once more when he spotted her concerned face. "It's hard to sleep the night before a big performance."

"Gray-sama, you cant keep pushing yourself this hard."

He placed his hand over hers. "I'm fine Juv."

She didn't believe him but didn't say another word.

...

"Erza, are you sure these disguises work?" Lucy asked, walking through the many people.

The red head scoffed. "Nobody has even glanced at you, of course they work." Lucy wore a black beanie, with large glasses and simple dark brown coat with darker boots. "Without your makeup and glittery sense of style, nobody will know its you."

The blonde grinned happily, and began to skip through the crowd. "I cant wait to see the bands play. I think they-"

She gasped when she was knocked to the ground by a body colliding with hers. She opened her eyes and looked up to spot someone she recognized, but he clearly did not recognize her.

"Hey you're that guy from Etherion... Natsu right?"

"I guess we are getting really popular." The pinkette mumbled, offering the girl a hand to help her up.

Lucy took it, smiling as he pulled her off of the ground. "I'm a fan. My name is Lu-igi... yeah.. Luigi..."

"Luigi?" Natsu repeated, confused.

"Luigi?" Erza, the woman behind Lucy, deadpanned.

"I cant wait to see you go on tonight! Good luck!" The blonde cheered, causing Natsu to grin.

"Hey thanks Luigi! I'll keep an eye out for you in the crowd." He began to run off. "See ya!"

"He's cute..." Lucy said to Erza. "Now lets make sure to get a good spot!"

...

"Why are you lying?"

Wendy sat crisscrossed beside Romeo, a frown in her face as she looked towards the river. They had escaped the festival, just a few feet outside of it so they could speak in private. Romeo looked over at the girl.

"You don't get it."

"I really don't." Wendy agreed. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top of them. "You just disappeared from school, and now you're here? You're not 18, you're really 15, why are you lying to everyone?"

Romeo stood up, kicking at the ground. "It's hard to explain alright. I just couldn't be in that house anymore!"

"You ran away?!" Wendy gasped.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked to the ground. "I'm not going back. My dad hasn't even made the slightset effort to look for me."

"But I'm sure he loves you." Wendy said. "He's your father."

"Yeah... But he loves his new wife even more." Romeo mumbled. Wendy pressed her lips together while looking back at him. "You have to keep this a secret."

She shook her head and looked away. "I can't lie to everyone."

"Wendy you have to!" He knelt down and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Please, promise me you won't tell."

She looked into his eyes, seeing sadness mixed with anger. She exhaled a breath through her nose, staying quiet for a moment before she shut her eyes.

"O-okay... I promise."

He let go of her shoulders and stood up once more. "Thanks."

She stood up as well, clapping the dirt from the ground off of her body. "We should get back. Natsu-nii's band is about to go on.

...

"Ready guys?!" Natsu asked, yelling.

"We're right here! Stop yelling already!" Gajeel shouted back at the drummer.

Jellal walked into the scene, "I had no idea we would go first. Sabertooth is at the end of the list."

"Who cares. After we play they'll be begging us to sign our names next to that X." Natsu laughed.

A woman with purple colored hair walked onto the stage, getting the crowd hyped up as she introduced the band.

"I guess we're on." Gray mumbled.

Juvia smiled and him, placing her hands on his face pulling him towards her. "Good luck." She kissed his lips.

Natsu lifted a drumstick in the air, walking towards the stage while his bandmates followed.

"Remember the first time we went up, Salamander almost pissed his pants." Gajeel chuckled, strapping on his guitar.

"Hey shut up man! That was totally Gray!"

"It was you, idiot." Gray muttered under his breath.

Being in front of a crowd was a thrill they all loved. The screaming fans, the beating of your heart, knowing the people you care about are all there supporting you while you perform your heart out with your best friends at your side. Being a band became more than a hobby to the boys. It was now a part of their life. Even in the middle of winter, sweat dripped down their faces as they played with all they had. Natsu banged his drums, both Gajeel and Gray had a few new blisters on their fingers, and Jellal owned the mic, singing as gracefully as ever. Before they knew it their song was over, but the sound of the crowd was louder than they had ever imagined, but in the midsts of all this cheering, one of the band members began to feel strange.

Gray panted heavily, stumbling back a bit as his vision became blurry. The world appeared to be moving in slow motion. He turned to look at Natsu who had lifted his stick in the air, taking in the audiences applause. Jellal as well had caught his breath after singing his lungs out for the crowd. The bluenette waved at the crowd, and turned to look at his bandmates. Gajeel, Natsu, and Jellal all began to walk towards the exit. The sound of the crowd suddenly began to get faded out. Suddenly, all Gray could hear as he followed his friends was the sound of his heart beating... very slowly... and his breathes, which were becoming hard to do.

..

..

..

He spotted Juvia, Levy, Romeo, and Wendy all waiting for them backstage.

..

..

.

.

All he could hear was his heartbeat...

Until it suddenly stopped beating.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Please leave a review. And yes, cliffhangers are my favorite :) More characters and more Lucy and Erza coming soon!**


	12. Yes

**What I Live For**

"Even in your darkest moments you still have the choice to focus your energy on the positive and create a better life."

-Andy Biersack

 **Please R &R**

 **Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima**

 _Thoughts /_ **Song Lyrics**

 _Previously:_

 _Gajeel, Natsu, and Jellal all began to walk towards the exit. The sound of the crowd suddenly began to get faded out. Suddenly, all Gray could hear as he followed his friends was the sound of his heart beating... very slowly... and his breathes, which were becoming hard to do._

 _.._

 _.._

 _.._

 _He spotted Juvia, Levy, Romeo, and Wendy all waiting for them backstage._

 _.._

 _.._

 _._

 _._

 _All he could hear was his heartbeat..._

 _Until it suddenly stopped beating_.

 **XII. Yes**

* * *

"WHAT?! What do you mean Etherion didn't win?! They totally blew the competition away!" Lucy balled her hands into fists, stepping into the car with Erza, glaring at the driver. "It was you wasn't it?! Laxus! How come you didn't vote for them?"

The blonde haired man grit his teeth at the pop princess's whining. He looked at the woman through the rear view mirror before glancing at Erza who sat in silence, her head lowered, with one leg over the other. The red head was usually always calm and collected. Lucy removed the hat Erza made her wear, followed by the glasses and proceeded to let her hair flow back loosely.

"Shut up blondy!" The man hissed, gripping the wheel, keeping his eyes on the road. The windows of the black car he was currently driving were tinted, so no one from the outside would be able to look inside. "If it were up to me I would have signed those Etherion guys. Unfortunately, I don't get a say."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Uh, yeah right. You're Ivan Dreyar's son. Laxus Dreyar. After your old man you basically have control of Fiore Entertainment."

Finally opening her mouth to speak but not moving positions, Erza let out a sigh, "That's not particularly true. Its the higher ups, as in the Fiore Entertainment Council who vote on the winners. Etherion came in close second, but they left before the show was even over without saying a word to anyone. They did this at the Fall Festival as well. That lead singer of theirs was making a break for it after the bassist, which led him to drop my strawberry cake."

The girls both heard Laxus begin to chuckle as he recalled the memory of Erza slapping Jellal after the battle of the bands.

"They're definitely impressive, but they seem to be missing something. I'll wait a while, keep going to their shows, and see if they come up with something. For now we'd better head back to the hotel. Sabertooth is about to arrive there and they were promised a party with some of the artists from FE. That means you little princess."

Lucy blinked, "huh? But it's my day off! I wasn't supposed to do anything related to the company today." She pouted and leaned forwards, looking closely at Laxus with large eyes, "Please please get someone else to do it!"

"Look girly, Sherry Blendy, Jenny Realight, Ultear, and even those creeps the Trimen were forced to go. There's no getting out of this."

She frowned and leaned back into her seat, crossing her arms and looking out the window. Erza gasped, her head shooting up and a scared almost, disgusted look resting on her face. "That fool Ichiya is not allowed in correct?"

Laxus only shrugged. "He is the manager of the Trimens... How the hell they got signed with us is still a mystery to me."

 _..._

 _"Papa!"_

 _He opened his eyes slowly, and found himself in a white space, surrounded by nothingness._

 _"Papa!"_

 _He turned his head to the side, and spotted four tall pillars standing tall, and a door at the end of it. The sound of laughter filled his ears, and in the middle of the four pillars, a small but bright light appeared, floating away slowly._

 _"Papa!"_

 _He sat up, his eyes droopy and feeling drowsy. The light suddenly twinkled and began to move behind a pillar. The sound of laugher came again, and Gray stood up, still feeling a bit dizzy as he moved towards the pillar._

 _"Papa!"_

 _The ball of light suddenly floated towards another pillar, making him turn to follow it with his eyes. The light began to float in a circle, laughing innocently once more. It began to move closer towards Gray, the young man extending his arms to touch it._

 _"Papa!"_

 _The light sped away before Gray could touch it. It moved right in front of the door, twinkling again. The young man turned to face the door, his hand over his chest and breathing heavily as he moved forwards. He extended his arm out again, his fingertips inches away from the twinkling light. It split apart into two balls of light, one bigger than the other._

 _"You can't leave mama yet!" The bigger light said._

 _"Papa!" The smaller light said._

 _Gray furrowed his brows in confusion. The light began to expand, moving passed him and engulfing the empty room he was in. It suddenly broke apart, into one million little pieces surrounding him. To Gray, it almost looked like a mixture of snow and raindrops falling over him. His eyes were focused on the ceiling, and when he looked down they widened when they focused on two small figures standing at the opposite end of the room hand in hand. He smiled, one of them was a tiny girl with curly blue hair which reminded him of Juvia. The older one appeared to be a boy, with dark hair and bright blue eyes._

 _"It's okay. Go." The boy said._

 _Gray looked between the two children, smiling. The light from before appeared again, flashing brightly as the whole room, himself and the children were engulfed by it._

 _"Papa!"_

...

With a gasp his eyes shot open. The guess sound he heard was the computer beside him, which beeped at the same pace as his heart.

"Oh my God!" He felt two warm arms throw themselves around him, followed by the feeling of warm tears on his chest. "You were dead! You were dead! Gray-sama! You were dead!"

"...Juvia..."

She had gripped onto his hospital clothing, shaking her head as she buried her face into his stomach, sobbing uncontrollably. "Gray-sama! You were dead!"

He weakly lifted his arm which had been injected with some kind of needle, and placed it over her soft, blue hair, rubbing the back of her head.

"Gray!" Natsu shouted, barging into the room, followed by the rest of his friends. They all had worried looks on their faces, Levy even tears in her eyes.

"Oh my god... He's okay." Levy breathed, hugging Jellal's side. The blue haired man had his arm over his short cousins shoulder, a relieved look on his face.

Gajeel ran a hand through his hair, letting out a breath of relief as Natsu stepped forwards and placed a hand on Juvia's back. The woman lifted her head, wiping her tears staring at her boyfriend who was looking right back at her. Her lip trembled and she shook her head wrapping her arms around him again. Gray managed to sit up, using the small amount of strength he had pulling the woman into his lap, letting her cry into his chest.

Wendy and Romeo were also in the room. The girls with tears in their eyes and a hand over her mouth.

"I... Was dead...?"

Juvia gasped, catching her breath from her crying. "Your heart..." She placed her ear on his chest, relaxing a bit as she heard herself the sound of it beating. "It stopped beating... Gray-sama wasn't breathing!"

"It's okay..." Natsu said to the woman. "Look, he's right there." Natsu looked at Gray. "The stupid Popsicle is... A-alive..." He pressed his lips together and looked down.

Truth be told all the boys wanted to cry, but they wouldn't dare cry. At least not in front of each other. Another person walked into the room. A woman with pink hair tied back into a bun wearing a red doctors jacket. She rose an eyebrow at the amount of people in the room before grabbing her clipboard.

"Mom?" Wendy said to the women. "Is Gray gonna be okay?"

The woman nodded, a serious look on her face. "Yes. But there are too many people in this room, and visiting hours are over. The only people allowed in at these hours now are his family members."

"We are his family!" Jellal snapped, causing Levy to hold onto him making sure he didn't break anything. If she knew one thing for sure about her cousin, that was that he cared deeply about the people in his life. The two grew up together, and they never really had anyone. She knew it mustve meant the world to him to have so many people who surrounded them now, so many people they could lean on. In such a short amount of time the group had become super tightknit. It was really hard to believe that for even a minute they lost someone who they cared deeply about.

Porlyusica rubbed her temples. "I understand he's your friend, but it's critical that he isn't surrounded by too many people right now. Better if it was nobody but I don't think that is possible..." She said, briefly glancing at the woman Gray held in his lap.

"I-it's okay." Gray said weakly.

Natsu looked at his adoptive mother and sighed while nodding. He pat Gray on the shoulder and began to walk towards the door. He glanced at Jellal, motioning him to follow, while wrapping his arm around Wendy's shoulder and walking out the door. Romeo walked out after them, and Levy glanced over at Gajeel who still looked worried even more so than Jellal. She walked towards him, grabbing his hand in both of hers and slowly pulled him out of the room. He followed her, but Jellal shook his head and looked at the doctor.

"I'm sorry but I'm staying."

Porlyusica sighed and lifted her iPad, glancing at a few pages before looking at Gray.

"Gray, I'm afraid you are on the verge of having high blood pressure. While this is not fatal, it is essential you take care of yourself before this worsens. Better diet, more rest, and less stress."

Juvia sniffled a bit, her nose red and standing up. "Gray-sama had a heart attack because he was stressed?"

"Yes. The lack of rest on top of the stress he had building up inside of him. Gray, you need to take care of yourself. You were lucky to have survived this, but who knows, if you have an attack again if you will survive."

Juvia stumbled back a bit, a scared look appearing on her face. Jellal walked towards her, placing his hands on her shoulders. He looked back at the doctor with a serious look.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of him."

"Yes." Juvia agreed, moving away from Jellal towards Gray, placing her hand softly on his face.

Gray fell back onto his pillow, staring at the ceiling. Life was so short. In one second, his could have ended. Porlyusica exited the room, allowing both Jellal and Juvia to stay in their with him. She pulled up a chair, placing it right at his side, kissing his forehead before taking a seat. She rested her arms on the cot while lowering her head. Gray turned to look at her, grateful she had finally calmed down. Of course he didn't blame her for acting that way. He didn't even know how much worse he would have been if the tables had been turned and she was the one in the bed instead of him.

"I'm gonna let the others know what's going on." Jellal announced, stepping out of the room, leaving the couple alone.

Gray sighed and rested his hand over his stomach, shutting his eyes for a moment. He felt Juvia place her hand over his, gripping onto it tightly as if he was about to disappear. A small smile formed on his face but it faded away rather quickly when she spoke up.

"Are you happy?"

...

"Guys, Gray has to stay overnight. Jellal said he's staying here with him and Juvia." Levy said, placing her phone in her pocket walking back into the waiting room where her friends waited. Gajeel, Natsu, Wendy, and Romeo sat in a row, all of them turning to look at the short nineteen year old as she came towards them.

Natsu stood up from his seat first, grabbing the keys from Jellal's van out of his pocket. "Alright..." He looked at Wendy. "You coming over or want me take you home?"

"I'm going with you." She mumbled, gripping her sleeves.

"You coming too, shorty?" Gajeel asked.

She nodded, pulling her large purse over her shoulder. "Yeah." The group looked back at Romeo. "Thanks for coming along." Levy smiled softly. "Do you have a way home?"

The dark haired boy rubbed the back of his head while nodding "uh... Yeah, I have a way there."

"Really?" Wendy asked, raising a concerned eyebrow.

Gajeel smirked. "No need to lie kid, we'll take ya."

"It's really okay." Romeo placed his hands out in front of him. "Honestly."

Natsu placed his arm over the shorter teenager's shoulder, "Don't worry about it. Hey why don't you come stay at our place, we got a pretty comfortable couch."

"They don't give you much of an option." Levy laughed, "Lets go."

Romeo watched as Natsu and Gajeel took the lead, both arguing over who was going to drive.

...

"Are you happy?"

Gray rose an eyebrow at the question, sitting up to look at Juvia. She had a frown on her face, her hands still in his.

"What do you mean, 'am I Happy'?"

"With Juvia... with the band... with our life..."

He stayed silent for a moment, looking away from her, staring into space in thought. _'"Juvia just wants you to be happy." She giggled, slipping on her own jacket. "Whatever makes you happy."' '"As long as Gray is happy, Juvia will support him."'_

All along the way she had been reminding him, all she wanted was for him to be happy. Back when she first said it he didn't mind it much thought. She always said sweet things to him, but now that he thought about it...

"Yes. Being with you makes me happy." He began to move to get off of the bed, shocking Juvia a bit. She opened her mouth to protest and tell him to stay in bed, but he had already gotten up. "I like being in a band. Fighting, laughing, or just sitting around with those guys makes me really happy." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him. "And I love this life you've given me."

"Gray-sama..."

"There's no one else I would want to be with..." She began to move back and he moved with her until her back touched the wall. He pressed his forehead against hers making her heart jump. "Marry me..."

...

 **Mummified my teenaged dreams... no it's nothing wrong with me... the kids are all wrong... the stories are off... heavy metal broke my heart...**

"Hey man you're really good." Natsu noted, as Romeo chuckled and set the guitar he had been playing down. He took a seat on the couch beside Wendy, while Gajeel nodded with approval.

"Maybe we needed another guitarist to liven up the sound."

"Yeah, Romeo's style is way different from yours, but it might fit in perfectly with the band." Natsu agreed.

"Oi kid, wanna join Etherion?" Gajeel asked, not wasting anytime.

Romeo gasped, jumping to his feet. "Wait are you serious?"

"Sure! Just wait till Jellal hears you play, he's gonna be on board for sure! One thing though..." Natsu stood up closer to the younger man. "We take the band seriously, so we wanna make sure you'll be serious about it to."

Romeo smiled widely, balling his hand up and shaking his arm. "Yes! I won't let you down! Ethrerion is gonna be what I live for!"

Natsu placed his hands on his hips and chuckled while Gajeel smirked. They may not have won this competition, but they were sure to get signed by someone sooner or later, especially now since they had a brand new guitarist on their hands. Sure they didn't really know the kid yet, but somehow he just seemed to fit into the story. He was sure Jellal would be thrilled to accept the boy into their band.

"Lets just see if you can keep up." Natsu grinned, sitting at his drumset as Romeo picked up the guitar. "Wendy! Grab the mic!"

The girl giggled a bit, moving to the microphone stand and beginning to sing the words to the song Romeo was playing before.

Gajeel smirked at the scene, rolling his eyes and shaking his head before walking off to his room. He opened his bedroom door, raising an eyebrow when he caught Levy searching around his room again, just like she had earlier. The bluenette gasped, jumping up and looking back at the taller man who was giving her a serious look.

"Alright spill it. What the fuck are you looking for in here?"

Levy shook her head. "Nothing important really... I just... I lost..."

Her eyes widened when Gajeel pulled out the orange pill container that Gray had been questioned about earlier.

"This?"

She pressed her lips together before mumbling. "Where did you find..."

"Ya know half of our equipment is in Gray's car. This thing must've gotten in there when we were pulling instruments." He glanced over at her with an eyebrow raised. "Ya gonna tell my why you were looking for em'"

Levy swallowed a lump in the throat before sighing. "You can't tell anyone..."

"I'm not good at keepin secrets shorty." He lied, walking towards his window. "So how about we do this..."

He took the top off with ease, pouring the pills onto his palm while smirking. Levy watched with confusion but her eyes widened when Gajeel opened the window, carelessly tossing the pills out.

"Gajeel! What the hell!?"

"Now there are no secrets to keep."

She stared at him wide eyed, her hands balled into fists, "Why did you do that?"

"Why are _you_ using drugs?"

"Look..." She moved to sit on the edge of his bed, "I just needed some extra help to study for my exams... It's not like I'm addicted."

"But if you pop one to many you might wake up one day realize you lost everything." He sat beside her. "Who gives a fuck about getting A's"

"I do!" She stood up and walked forwards, facing the wall with her head lowered. "I know I've always had Jellal... and my grandpa... but my mom is out there somewhere, and no matter how hard I try to study, no matter how well I do... she doesn't want me! She never wanted me! I've tried to reach out to her... and I've tried so hard to get her attention but... I just don't get it... how can a mother just ignore her daughter for nineteen years."

Gajeel remained silent for a moment, taking in what Levy was telling him. He ran a hand through his hair, leaning his head back and shrugging. "Don't ask me. I don't even know what the hell happened to my old man after he dumped me off at the orphanage." She turned around slowly. "If you think about it, none of us know our parents... but who needs them anyway."

"I guess that's why I feel so comfortable around you guys."

Gajeel laid back, sighing loudly. "Ain't you the one talking about how you're supposed to be happy cause you got friends or something?"

He felt her lay beside him on her side. "I just mean that... when you're used to not having many people around it feels nice to be surrounded by a large group of people who you care about and can trust... I've never had something like that before..."

"I hate saying sappy crap like this... Let's just get straight to the point. I got you, you got me, and we're all just freaking happy pals that sing songs and hold hands around a campfire... That what you had in mind?" Levy laughed a bit as Gajeel turned to face her. "I mean it."

They remained silent for a moment. Levy stared deeply into his red eyes, and before she realized what was happening, she moved forwards, and pressed her lips over his. At this point, she wasn't surprised that he didn't pull away. She wasn't surprised that he moved himself to lean over her, continuing to kiss her while she ran his hands through his hair, and under his shirt, until she got it off. Their lips continued to touch, their hands roaming each other's bodies, until Gajeel reached the hem of the shorts she had worn when she had the intention of actually sleeping that night. Gajeel pulled away slowly, looking the girl right in the eye.

"You sure?"

She sat up, wrapping her arms around his neck and smiling. "Yes."

...

"Does... Gray-sama really want to?"

"Yes." Gray moved back a bit, chuckling. "I know that asking you this at the hospital is probably not how you imagined this moment..."

He stopped talking when she ran towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. He was surprised by the sudden movement at first, before he smiled into the kiss placing his hands on her waist. She pulled away, smiling softly while tears started to fall from her eyes.

There was only one word on her mind right now.

"Yes."

* * *

A/N: Not my best chapter but it's an update. This story is gonna start picking up the pace next chapter. More drama, more secrets, and more music! + MORE PAIRINGS! Please review to let me know that there are people at least reading and enjoying this story. I hope it's different from the many Fairy Tail band AU's on this site. Suggestions? Questions? Advice? Let me know! I love hearing feedback! I'm also a nice person so don't be scared to be friends with me. :)

Thanks for reading, and I will be doing review responses next chapter!


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